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VOL 5 | NO 2 FALL 2009 THE MAGAZINE OF THE UBC FACULTY OF MEDICINE
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FACULTY OF MEDICINE
EDICINE
THE CLINICAL FACULTY JUGGLING ACT
MESSAGE FROM THE VICE PROVOST HEALTH AND DEAN
FOCUS ON: CLINICAL FACULTY
The clinical faculty conundrum
Alternative funding plans: Raising the bar
Nazira Chatur: Catalyst for change
Gurdeep Parhar: Better health through television
Cherrie Tan-Dy: The making of a standout teacher
Steven Chang: Learning the art of canoeing and cajoling
CENTRE SPREAD: UNSUNG HEROES
An enhanced role for Dean Gavin Stuart
Setting information free: Two professors break down
barriers to knowledge transfer
From benchside to bedside: Brain Research Centre
explores stroke's causes and paths to recovery
Straightening feet and building bridges
Investigations & breakthroughs
Where learning meets the pavement
Pay it forward: A $300 loan enables the next
generation of philanthropy
One man's vision saved — many others to come
Making a mark
On call for the Olympics
UBC MEDICINE
VOL. 5 | NO. 2 FALL 2009
A publication of the University
of British Columbia's Faculty
of Medicine, providing news
and information for and about
faculty members, students,
staff, alumni and friends.
Letters and suggestions are
welcome. Contact Linda Bartz
at linda.bartz@ubcca
Director, Marketing +
Communications
Linda Bartz
Communications Managers
Brian Kladko
Alison Liversage
Communications Assistant +
Events Co-ordinator
Elizabeth Kukely
Contributors
Melissa Ashman
Anne Campbell
Kyle Harland
Daniel Presnell
Beverly Tamboline
Design
Signals Design Group Inc.
www.signals.ca
Photography
Martin Dee
Eugene Lin
Don Erhardt
Tim Swanky
Brian Hawkes
Doug Nicolle
Janelle Lazeski
Online at
www.med.ubc.ca/news/
med_mag.htm
Cover illustration
John Belisle,
Signals Design Group Inc.
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0199C Forest Hnnnklilp Council UBC MEDICINE
ESSAGE FROM THE
VICE PROVOST HEALTH AND DEA
For most professional health disciplines, education is carried out
within tightly formulated standards of accreditation. Although
the standards continue to evolve, change is generally slow, with
preference shown for the status quo.
This gradualism often contrasts sharply with rapid changes in the
health care system, forcing us to adapt and reform. It also adds to the
pressures many clinical teachers face every day, as they try to deliver
excellent health care and education in an ever-shifting landscape.
I witnessed these dilemmas over the summer, as my wife and I
traveled through BC's Interior, visiting sites where our growing
corps of clinical faculty members educate increasing numbers of
students and residents.
One stop on my travels was Enderby a small community south
of Salmon Arm, which once had its own full-service hospital that
provided a rich environment for learning the principles of rural
medicine. The hospital's closure in 2002 forced area residents to
travel to Salmon Arm or Vernon and caused significant financial
impact through the removal of many jobs from the area; it
also left a gap in our network of educational sites. Today, the
Enderby Community Health Clinic has evolved into an extremely
popular rural practice clinical learning site, but the educational
opportunities are significantly different than those provided by
exposure to patients in a full-service community hospital. We
must take that change into account in making sure students and
residents in the area get a comprehensive clinical experience.
That same year, Castlegar, nestled between Trail and Nelson, also lost
its full-service hospital. In addition to the obvious economic, personal
and societal impacts, we were forced to re-evaluate how Castlegar
figures in our training of students and residents. We now look to
consider integrated community clerkships in Trail and/or Nelson, and
potentially having health learners stop at the Castlegar Health Centre
for learning experiences on their way between the larger sites.
The personal and economic impacts of these changes are most
obvious in small communities-an active debate now rages in the
East Kootenays about closing several small hospitals there. But
metropolitan areas aren't immune to such wrenching changes, either.
Currently Lower Mainland integration is affecting how patient care
and teaching are delivered by Vancouver Coastal Health, Fraser
Health and the Provincial Health Services Authority, together with
Providence Health Care. For example, a decision to close obstetrical
services in one institution and centralize that care at another carries
serious implications for postgraduate training programs in family
practice, obstetrics, pediatrics and others, and also affects the
midwifery, physical therapy and MD undergraduate programs.
We must somehow reconcile changes in the health care system
with our educational mission, and do so within the confines
of accreditation. This is a big challenge, given the intimidating
complexity of our health care system. But it's the kind of challenge
that health professionals routinely face, as they juggle shifting
priorities and limited resources.
That juggling act is especially acute among our clinical teachers,
whom we highlight in this issue of UBC Medicine. Their contribution to
educating tomorrow's health professionals, even as they carry heavier
patient loads and contend with growing administrative demands,
cannot receive enough recognition-from me, the rest of the Faculty
of the Medicine, and the entire province.
k-t K>.
Gavin C.E.Stuart, MD, FRCSC
Wee Provost Health
Dean, Faculty of Medicine C MEDICINE
W
i.r*jn.ikj[ FOCUS ON:
UBC MEDICINE
ICAL FA(
THE CLINICAL FACULTY
CONUNDRU
Editor's note: Dr. David Cook, whose observations
and insights formed the basis of this article, passed
away September 13, at the age of 67. His willingness
to assist with the development of this piece is one
of many contributions he has made to the cause of
medical education during his four-decade career at
the University of Alberta.
Medical schools like UBC have long
depended on practicing health
professionals to help train the next
generation. Like all relationships,
it takes work to keep it going.
To master the intricacies and subtleties of providing care, whether
in an examining room, an operating room, an emergency room or a
therapy room, there is no substitute for hands-on experience alongside
seasoned professionals - watching what they do, listening to their
explanations, asking questions, and answering questions aimed at
assessing their knowledge.
That give-and-take in real-world settings, dealing with real-world
problems, depends on an implicit social contract-that training the next
generation of health professionals is an integral part of being a health
professional. But that contract has started to strain under the pressure
of changing times.
Not that clinical faculty are any less crucial these days. On the
contrary, the expansion of medical education across Canada and
the increasing educational focus on community-based, primary
care have made preceptors even more crucial to the enterprise of
training health professionals.
At the same time, however, the medical profession itself has undergone
major changes. Health professionals who once generously devoted their
time to teaching now find themselves hard-pressed to make time for it
in the face of multiplying administrative tasks, reduced autonomy and
heavier patient loads.
"You're looking at people who are stressed, for a variety of reasons," said
David Cook, former Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology at the
University of Alberta's Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, who spent a year
studying the issue for the Association of Canadian Faculties of Medicine
(AFMC). "They're stressed by teaching, they're stressed by increasing
clinical demands, they're stressed by being put under a microscope." Dr. David Cook 1942-2009
PHOTO COURTESY OF
UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
A comprehensive review
That strain can be found throughout medical schools, hospitals
and clinics throughout Canada and North America. Much of it is
quiet frustration, though it sometimes erupts onto the pages of
medical journals and websites. And it led the AFMC to undertake
a comprehensive review of the situation, looking at such issues as
clinical faculty recruitment, compensation and engagement.
"The reason medical schools are in this mess is that they've never
stopped to think about this as a human resources management
problem," Dr. Cook said.
Last year, Dr. Cook visited all 17 Canadian medical schools,
speaking with over 200 people, from deans to first-year students,
and found a surprising degree of variability among the schools, and
even among departments within schools. But he did find two major
commonalities: "Everyone is increasing enrollment, and everyone is
concerned about compensation."
The strain posed by increasing enrollment is obvious - more
students require more teachers. UBC's expansion has been the
most dramatic in Canada: Between 2004 and 2007, it doubled
the size of its medical school classes to 256 students a year, and
that number will grow by another 32 when the Southern Medical
Program launches in 2011.
"Medical schools are trying to bring in new instructors," Dr. Cook said.
"And they also seem to be overburdening the people who are already
teaching, by increasing the number of students they must teach."
A patchwork of funding mechanisms
The problem posed by compensation is equally stark: The
reimbursement for educational service is not close to matching
the reimbursement for treating patients, forcing health
professionals to sacrifice some income if they choose to teach.
For many, it's a worthy sacrifice, an intrinsic part of being a doctor
or health professional.
"That view is held passionately by some physicians, but equally
dismissed with equivalent passion by others," Dr. Cook said. He
also believed that the higher a physician's income, the more that
sacrifice becomes an issue.
Contributing to the range of attitudes is a tremendous variation in
compensation. Some clinical faculty members are paid for their
teaching by the hour, some are given an honorarium, and some
aren't paid at all (though that number is dwindling). One hospital in
Canada, he noted, educates medical students from three different
universities-each of them using different pay scales.
One way of introducing some order to that mishmash is the use
of alternative funding plans, or AFPs, which move clinical faculty
away from a fee-for-service model to being salaried employees. In
return, their duties are officially expanded beyond clinical care to
education, research and even administrative work.
Some clinical faculty members
are paid for their teaching by
the hour, some are given an
honorarium, and some aren't
paid at all...
Alas, alternative funding plans and their adoption across Canada
also vary tremendously-a "patchwork quilt" is how Dr. Cook
described it. At the University of Toronto, alternative funding plans
are central to the way clinical faculty members are paid, he said.
UBC, on the other hand, isjust starting to delve into them, led by
the Department of Surgery and the Division of General Internal
Medicine. (See story, page 8.) Dr. Cook saw promise in such plans,
but also cautioned, "You've got to get everybody on board with it." (TBC MEDICINE
Between 2004
and 2007, UBC
doubled the si
of its medical
school classes
to 256 students
a year.
The power of respect
Money, however, isn't everything. Dr. Cook believed that most
clinical faculty members truly like teaching, and are willing to do it
if they get respect.
"If you're a cardiologist and you are teaching, the money you get for
that is trivial," Dr. Cook said. "What you hope to get out of it is some
respect. The money gets lighted upon as a huge issue, not because
money is important, but because it's a token of respect you would
like to get for your teaching efforts."
Making clinical faculty feel like a part of the team, giving them a say
in how education is handled, and recognizing their contributions
could go a long wayto dispelling the frustration over compensation,
Dr. Cook said. It's especially important to ensure that clinical faculty
members don't feel they are being dictated to by the university's full-
time faculty.
"One of my recommendations is that people on part-time staff be
invited to participate in the process of deciding what works and what
doesn't, what students need," he said. "Some of them, especially
those who have already been teaching a while, might see that as one
additional demand, so you've got to be a little bit careful about the
way you do this. But it would be wonderful if clerkship directors and
program directors could get on the phone and ask, 'How is it going?
What advice do you have? What's making your life difficult?'Some
clerkship directors and program directors do this, but not all of them."
Dr. Cook didn't dismiss the power of symbolic gestures-for
example, free business cards from the university. Another idea:
Photograph every clinical faculty member and assemble a "wall of
fame" prominently displayed in the lobbies of the hospitals where
they work, thanking them for their time training the next generation
of physicians.
"Those kinds of things make a difference," he said. "What medical
schools have done is assume that without any kind of real contact
or any kind of earnest show of respect in which they hold clinical
faculty, that they would go right on teaching."
Smoothing out road bumps
In addition to showing respect, Dr. Cook also believed that medical
schools must focus on making teaching easier to do. In the course
of his research, he heard a litany of complaints from clinical faculty
members about logistics, such as:
"I'm never given warning for what I'm supposed to do, or I'm given
dates that are then changed. I'm not given enough information
about students. I'm not quite clear on what I'm supposed to do
with them. I'm expected to go to the university but I can't find
anywhere to park. I don't have enough training to know what I'm
supposed to be doing."
Making the situation harder to resolve is the division of
governmental responsibility for clinical education between
ministries of health and health authorities, which oversee
resident training, and ministries of advanced education, which
oversee education of medical undergraduates.
"If the government departments are working closely together,
then everything's cool. And if they're working with the university
and the medical association, even better," Dr. Cook said. "But that
doesn't always happen. In fact, it's a pretty darned unusual thing
for it to happen."
After examining the clinical faculty relationship at all of Canada's
medical schools, Dr. Cook concluded, "I can't really find a good role
model. But there are plenty of universities that are working very
hard to improve the situation."
Dr. Cook also believed that clinical faculty members must put
issues of compensation in perspective. Whether they get paid eight
dollars an hour versus 10 dollars an hour for teaching, he said, is a
distraction from the greater good.
"At what point do we start to say, As a physician, I've got some
responsibilities to make sure that the next generation of
physicians actually get adequate clinical training?'" EFORMING
OMPENSATION,
EFINING EXPECTATIONS-
Two Faculty of Medicine ui
alter the landscape of clinical teaching
UBC's Department of Surgery
and Division of General Internal
Medicine are embarking
on projects to reform the
way teaching is performed,
assessed and compensated.
Both efforts, called the
Clinical Academic Learning &
Innovation framework, or CALI,
have resulted from months
of discussions between the
Ministry of Health Services,
health authorities throughout
the province, the Faculty of
Medicine and clinicians in
those units.
The pilot projects will use
alternative funding mechanisms,
a departure from the traditional
fee-for-service model by which
most physicians are paid, and
a concept already embraced
by most of Canada's major
academic medical centres. In
return for a more predictable
income stream, participating
physicians will be expected to
perform an agreed-upon amount
of clinical care, teaching and
research. They also will have
more freedom to innovate in
the delivery of health care-for
example, through greater
collaboration with allied health
professionals or better use of
information technology.
Both efforts have proceeded
on parallel tracks, as
Dr. Garth Warnock, Head of
the Department of Surgery,
and Dr. Graydon Meneilly, Head
of the Department of Medicine,
have sought to delineate an
endeavour plagued by a lack of
clear expectations and rewards.
"We haven't really articulated
what the deliverables are-X
hours that a learner should
spend in the operating room,Y
hours of small-group bedside
teaching, Z commitment to
evaluating your learners," says
Dr. Warnock. "Nor have we
collected data on the quality of
learning experiences. We haven't
really talked about those things
as much as we should-not just
us, but across Canada."
Both units have been working
with clinical faculty members
and the Ministry of Health
Services to hammer out their
respective plans, which will
be voluntary for participating
physicians.
The General Internal Medicine
plan would create a new
partnership between the
Faculty of Medicine, the
Ministry of Health Services
and the division's 25 or so
clinical faculty members at
Vancouver General Hospital
and St. Paul's Hospital. Instead
of earning money for each
patient they see or procedure
they perform, they will earn
a salary. The distribution
of clinical work, teaching,
research and administration
performed by each member
of the division will vary, but
the division as a whole would
be responsible for meetinf
expectations in all areas.
"It allows them to do so much
more," Dr. Meneilly says. "In a
fee-for-service paradigm, your
job is to see as many patients
in as short a time as possible.
But if you're in some kind of
alternative funding plan, you
could actually think creatively,
and figure out innovative ways to
look after more patients. I think
they see it as an opportunity to
do new, interesting things."
Surgery's pilot project, which
wi 11 go into effect later this
year, doesn't move to a salary
model, but specifies in an
unprecedented manner what
i surgical practice group is
expected to do in return for a
payment for teaching services.
For example, the plan states
how many hours of evaluation
a learner will receive in a year
from members of a six-surgeon
group. It also lays down certain
rules that were never specified
before-for example, that
sufficient valuable operating
room time must be set aside to
allow for meaningful teaching
encounters between surgeons
and their learners.
"The questions being asked by
clinical faculty are informinf
us to write some of these
things down that we didn't
think had to be written down
before," Dr. Warnock says. "I
think it's helping us get to
higher standards of teachinf
and learning."
Along those lines, Dr. Warnock
also produced an instructional
video in which he demonstrates
various educational tasks:
working with an administrator
to allocate space for learning,
supervising a student's
examination of a patient, and
giving feedback after surgery.
Such tasks might come as
second nature to someone who
has spent a career in academic
medicine, but may not be so
obvious to a full-time surgeon.
"It's something that other
people look at and say,
'Oh, so that's how it's done,' "
Dr. Warnock says. Nazira Chatur (standing) leads a teaching session for residents at
Vancouver General Hospital, photo by Brian hawkes
A CATALYST FOR CHANCE
UBC MEDICINE 9
A few years ago, the Division of Gastroenterology didn't have the
best reputation among residents and medical students.
Clinical care crowded out time for learning; it was overly focused
on acute cases, giving residents limited exposure to ambulatory
patients; and the quality of teaching was inconsistent. As a result,
attracting residents from the internal medicine core training
program was a challenge, and at times, almost impossible.
Today, the division has no trouble attracting residents, and there
is intense competition for the Adult Gastroenterology Fellowship
Training position.
Nazira Chatur helped set that turnaround in motion.
Embarking on a career in medicine after eight years as a
programmer/analyst at Motorola, she quickly became enthralled
with Gastroenterology during her Internal Medicine residency at
Vancouver General Hospital. Upon joining the division as a fellow,
she was alarmed that so many students and residents shunned a
specialtythat she found so fascinating-and resolved to improve
the learning experience.
"I went to the division and said, This is what we need to do,'" says
Dr. Chatur, now a Clinical Assistant Professor. "But if this had not
been a collaborative effort with my colleagues and fellows in
training, nothing would have changed."
Dr. Chatur was a realist-she knew nothing could be done about
the high volume of patients at a hospital like Vancouver General.
"Being a tertiary care institution, we expect to be busy," she says.
"You can't change the service. But we can change the service-to-
teaching ratio."
So Dr. Chatur added some old-fashioned didactic instruction to the
mix, instituting two teaching seminars in every four-week rotation.
"Sometimes they appreciate somebody giving them a short
lecture or teaching session on clinical scenarios, such as Gl
bleeds," she says.
During one of those teaching sessions, she ran through a series
of slides, peppering her explanations with questions to the three
residents seated across from her. At one point, while following up
a resident's answer with yet another question, she conceded, "Now
I'm being pushy."
"Many times, the residents arrive at the teaching sessions after
being up all night on call, and are obviously very tired," she explains
later. "The moment I start challenging them with questions, their
attention span improves."
She also explained how somatostatin agents, drugs used to treat
stomach or esophagal bleeding associated with cirrhosis, might
be overlooked by formularies in remote locales because they aren't
heavily marketed by pharmaceutical companies.
"This is the practical aspect of medicine-having to deal with
what makes business sense for people, and how that impacts
physicians," she explains.
Dr. Chatur, who won the 2006 Clinical Faculty Award for
Excellence in Teaching from the Faculty of Medicine, also pushed
to make ambulatory clinics and liver clinics a mandatory part of
the Gastroenterology rotation, giving residents more exposure to
the types of cases they will typically encounter in an outpatient
setting, and providing them with crucial feedback about their
dictating skills.
As Program Director for the Adult Gastroenterology Training
Program and the Division's Service Chief at Vancouver General,
she now evaluates every medical student, resident and fellow that
comes through the division.
She also has a popular habit of treating them to lunch and coffee
because, in the words of one former fellow, "she understands that
learning is hindered on an empty stomach." M« L- R: Gurdeep Parhar, filming an episode of "Pearls for Success" with
Cindy-Ann Lucky, a Clinical Associate Professor, at his office in Burnaby.
PHOTOS BY DON ERHARDT
FROM THE EXA
TO THE LIVING ROO
G ROO
GURDEEP PARHAR TAKES HIS MULTICULTURAL SKILLS TO A WIDER AUDIENCE
Gurdeep Parhar, like so many practitioners, must deal with the
frustration of having too many patients and too little time. His
solution: television.
Dr. Parhar, an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of
Family Practice, is the creator, writer and co-star of a 26-part
series that teaches new immigrants and refugees the basics of
health care and education in half-hour segments.The show began
airing this fall on the Shaw Multicultural Channel (Channel 119 in
the BC Lower Mainland).
"Pearls for Success" includes some role-playing of a typical health
care or education encounter that goes awry due to language
differences, cultural differences or just plain unfamiliarity with the
way things are done in Canada. It's followed by an interview with an
expert on the topic, and then a replay of the encounter, which goes
more smoothly than the first.
Among the health topics to be covered by the series: how to make the
most out of a visit to the doctor; when to go to the emergency room;
nutrition and preparing healthy lunches for children; Pap tests and
mammograms; dental care; cholesterol and diabetes; and flu shots.
The show is hosted by Dr. Parhar, and his wife, Anita, who is earning
her PhD in education at UBC. (Anita takes the lead on the education
segments.) For Dr. Parhar, who is donating his time to the effort, the
show is just the first step in a more elaborate effort to assist new
immigrants and refugees in the Fraser Health region.
The show will be dubbed into various languages and packaged
onto DVDs, which will be distributed at a series of school-based,
Saturday morning workshops on many of the health and education
topics covered by "Pearls for Success." By the end of the series, each
participant will be assigned a family physician to assist them in
their future health care needs.
"Fraser Health is really excited about such a program because
they see these patients right now as being orphaned," Dr. Parhar
says. "They want to stop these patients from coming in and out of
the emergency room because they're not in the system...The idea
is that after these workshops, not only will they have achieved a
higher level of health literacy, but they will have a go-to person who
can help them navigate through the health care system."
"Trust me, I didn't do it the easy
way...But I think over time I've
gained some expertise first-hand."
— Dr. Parhar
Dr. Parhar, a former Co-Head of the Department of Family Practice
and now Associate Dean for Equity and Professionalism in the
Faculty of Medicine, had a thoroughly Canadian upbringing in
Kitimat, BC. But he wound up reconnecting with his parents'
Punjabi culture-and forging new connections with many
others-through his practice in Burnaby, where his patients are
predominantly first-generation immigrants from Afghanistan,
Southeast Asia, Bosnia, Croatia and Africa. He also has learned
how to care for patients whose religious beliefs sometimes pose a
challenge for modern, Western health care practices.
"Trust me, I didn't do it the easy way," he says. "I've made enough
mistakes along the way. But I think overtime I've gained some
expertise first-hand, and that has given me some confidence. I
think I know some of the secrets." 12 UBC MEDICINE
L- R: Cherrie Tan-Dy; Dr. Tan-Dy with former medical student (now resident),
Ben Wilson, photos by beth haysom, university ofvictoria
THE MAKING OF A
STANDOUT TEACHER
By the time Cherrie Tan-Dy entered medical school, she had
already begun teaching.
She was guaranteed admission to the Boston University School
of Medicine while still an undergraduate, enabling her to take
some first-year courses while earning her Bachelor's of Science
degree in Biomedical Engineering. So, upon entering her first year
of medical school, she served as a teaching assistant for fellow
students in courses like histology.
"I wasn't sure how much I could support people who were
essentially at the same level that I was," Dr. Tan-Dy says. "But
eventually I realized that I had the knowledge base."
It was one of several experiences in medical school, residency and
fellowships that helped her become co-director of the neonatal
intensive care unit at Victoria General Hospital until last year,
and now the Year 3 Clerkship Director of the Faculty of Medicine's
Island Medical Program. She also happens to be one of the most
popular pediatric clinical faculty members in the province-since
arriving in BC five years ago, she has twice won the Community
Pediatrician Award, given annually by residents to the most
outstanding teacher in that field.
Dr.Tan-Dy doesn't claim to be a natural at teaching. She had to
learn it, from people like her third-year obstetrics professor at
Boston University.
"He walked up and down the aisles, picking people out of
the crowd, asking specific questions," she recalls. "He really
zoned in, making sure that you understood the importance of
basic science to develop an appropriate diagnosis and plan of
management for patients."
While doing her pediatric residency at Children's Hospital Los
Angeles, she again became a disciple of the Socratic, question-
and-answer approach-this time from the neonatology team.
"They didn't just sit there and lecture you on a topic," she says.
"They asked you really pointed questions about a case, and built
on those questions, getting more and more into the details, so they
could find exactly where the gaps were."
As a neonatal/perinatal fellow at the University of Toronto,
Dr. Tan-Dy learned that effective communication with other
health professionals-respiratory therapists, social workers,
pharmacists, nutritionists and nurses-would enhance her own
effectiveness as a physician.Those same communication skills
carryover naturally to her work with residents and students.
"A lot of your success is based on how well you can explain what
is going on in your mind," she says. "So teaching-making sure
that the people supporting the care of that baby are well-versed
and know why I've chosen a certain approach - became part of my
everyday work."
Now, as she educates residents and medical undergraduates, she
calls upon those same skills. She also emulates the most effective
teaching techniques other mentors, such as giving trainees
constant, specific feedback.
"It's important to give them some insight into how they did - not
just 'Good job today' but 'Good job with...' she says. "I also give
students more autonomy as their mastery grows. I give them some
wings, to make sure they get to the best point possible during the
time they have with me." m - i
UBC MEDICINE 13
«**<•■*,
L- R: Steven Chang; Family Practice resident Stephanie Chartier-Plante is
coached by Dr. Chang during an exam at Prince George Regional Hospital.
PHOTOS BYTIM SWANKY
CANOEING AND CAJOLING
A FORMER VANCOUVERITE HELPS MAKE PRINCE GEORGE A HUB OF CLINICAL TEACHING
When Steven Chang arrived in Prince George for his family
practice residency, he figured he would leave after his two years
were up and head to a big city to practice. After all, he spent
almost his entire childhood in Burnaby, attended Simon Fraser
University and UBC's Faculty of Medicine, and had never been
outside of the Lower Mainland.
Ten years later, Dr. Chang remains in Prince George. Now, as
Director of Clinical Skills for UBC's Northern Medical Program, he
is trying to show medical students that Prince George is not only a
good a place to learn, but to work and live.
"In Vancouver, a lot of patients are referred off to specialists,"
says Dr. Chang, a Clinical Instructor. "Here, I get to do a lot of
everything-deliver babies one day, look after palliative patients,
look after geriatric patients, look after pediatric patients, deal with
chronic pain or depression. You get to see the broad scope
of everything."
Outside Prince George Regional Hospital, his colleagues helped
him discover his inner outdoorsman. Canoeing and kayaking were
his gateway activities; soon he had acquired four different types of
skis, along with camping and hockey gear.
"In Vancouver, I didn't have a lot of time to do that stuff," he
says. "There was a lot of driving back and forth to places. Here,
everything is within 10 or 1 5 minutes of town, and the outdoors is
right there."
Those activities with colleagues proved useful when Dr. Chang-
who works full-time in the emergency room and part-time in
a family practice clinic-was tapped to become the Northern
Medical Program's clinical skills director.
"Recruiting tutors for that was difficult because everybody is busy
enough doing their clinical work, and couldn't give up an afternoon
to spend two or three hours with a group of students," he recalls.
"But I knew each of the staff personally, because I had gone
through the different rotations as a resident, and we would do
social things all the time. So I could badger and harass them until
they finally agreed to do it."
Over the past four years, Dr. Chang has noticed a transformation
among the town's physicians, who previously had no teaching
responsibilities.
"We had to change their mindset," he says. "They used to complain
when they had a resident on call with them. But now we're relying
on the residents to help us out, and when you explain things and
show them how to do things, there's a lot more enthusiasm and
excitement all around. It's actually more fun. Now everybody
complains when there's no resident or student on call."
"When you explain things and
show them how to do things,
there's a lot more enthusiasm
and excitement all around. It's
actually more fun."
— Dr. Chang
Still, he says it's not always easy to fill teaching slots for the
clinical skills courses. Instructors often tire of teaching one
section of the course and want to move on to another set of skills,
but that creates gaps that aren't so easy to fill in a town with only
200 physicians.
"Trying to keep them involved is tough," he says. "We're hoping
that as residents graduate, they will stay around and be involved
with teaching." 14 UBC MEDICINE
UNSUNG HEROES
members of the UBC Faculty of Medicine
who have advanced British Columbia's
health care as clinicians, educators or
administrators.The Faculty of Medicine salutes
them, and the thousands of others whose
contributions have made a difference- not
only for students and residents, but for
the health of all British Columbians.
01
,VERNON
Clinical Associate Professor,
Family Practice
As Clinical Education Leader,
Interior since 2005, Dr. Hull helped
lay the groundwork for creation
of the Southern Medical Program,
which takes its first class of 32
students in 2011. Dr. Hull, working
with physicians throughout the
Interior, developed 52 different
electives for fourth-year MD
undergraduates, doubled the
number of UBC students placed
annually in electives in the region,
and facilitated 87 new UBC
clinical faculty appointments.
As a result, the Interior is fast
becoming a popular destination
for UBC students seeking clinical
opportunities.
02
, FORT ST. JAMES
Clinical Instructor, Family Practice
An urban transplant from Durban,
South Africa, Dr. Stent came to Fort
St. James sight unseen in 1989. As
one of three physicians in town,
he regularly hosts two orthree MD
undergraduates a year, and makes
a point of taking students and
visiting residents on his helicopter
trips to First Nations reserves.
He also helped develop the Rural
Suitability Score for screening
applicants to the Northern Medical
Program (conceding that as a "city
slicker," he might not have scored
too well himself), and serves as
an admissions interviewer, hoping
that the distributed education
program produces more homegrown physicians seekingto work in
remote areas.
03
VICTORIA
Clinical Assistant Professor,
Midwifery
Convinced that midwifery deserved
the legitimacy accorded other
professions, Ms. Lyons Richardson
served on the first board of the
College of Midwives of BC, which
drafted the province's midwifery
regulations in the mid-1990s. In
that role, she and others fought
to give midwives primary care
provider status, have their services
fully funded, and allow women
to choose home birth. "It was
quite a long process, with a lot of
struggle, a lot of diplomacy," says
Ms. Lyons Richardson, who served
as the first President of the College
of Midwives. "There's a lot more
acceptance now, and midwives
are much more part of the team."
As a clinical faculty member, she
regularly hasthird- and fourth-
year students from the Faculty
of Medicine's Midwifery program
learning and working alongside her.
04
VANCOUVER
Clinical Associate Professor,
Occupational Science and
Occupational Therapy
A specialist in assistive
technology for disabled children,
Ms. Drynan has been teaching
for the Faculty of Medicine for
15 years. Since 2002, she has
been the department's fieldwork
coordinator, teaching scores of
practicing therapists throughout
BC how to become teachers
themselves, or how to become
better, through face-to-face
workshops and video conferences.
Ms. Drynan also coordinates
200 placements a year for the
department's two-year master's
program, a role in which she has
received high marks for mediating
conflicts. She also teaches two of
the program's required courses.
She won the 2009 Clinical Faculty
Award for Excellence in Teaching,
and was named the Outstanding
Occupational Therapist of
the Year by the BC Society of
Occupational Therapists.
05
1 NANAIMO
Clinical Associate Professor,
Family Practice
Dr. Beerman helped make Nanaimo
a major training centre for Family
Practice residents by crafting
a position statement reflecting
what the medical staff needed to
make it viable-such as official
acknowledgment and administrative
support.The document, approved
after seven drafts, aimed to get buy-in
from the staff, "so we could make this
a long-term, sustainable project." Now
Nanaimo Regional General Hospital
hosts 16 Family Practice residents for
their full two years (the first cohort
graduated in June), as well as 20 or
more undergraduates for three-to
five-week rotations.
06
'SURREY
Clinical Assistant Professor,
Neurology
A"Surrey boy" who returned to his
hometown aftertraining elsewhere
in Canada and abroad, Dr. Diggle
was quickly recruited to orchestrate the elevation of Surrey Memorial
Hospital to a Clinical Academic
Campus of the Faculty of Medicine.
As Site Director, he has played a
crucial role in planningthe hospital's
new critical care tower, which will
have a large UBC footprint within
it. He also has worked to nudge
the hospital's culture to a more
educational orientation. "It lets you
share what you're seeing with others,
and forces us as physicians to adopt
a higher standard-we now have to
be more critical of what we're doing."
07
FRASER LAKE
Clinical Assistant Professor,
Family Practice
Based in Fraser Lake for the past
10 years, Dr. Pawlovich is helping
experiment with new models of
primary care, including the use of
integrated health teams and group
medical visits, in which 10 to 15
patients meet with a physician and
other health professionals at the
same time. He also has used state-
of-the-art information technology
to raise the standard of care for
chronic diseases in remote aboriginal
villages. Dr. Pawlovich and his three
other colleagues in Fraser Lake host
medical students on month-long
rural clerkships, the occasional
resident from Vanderhoof or Prince
George, and aspiring nurses and
nurse practitioners.
09
08
TERRACE
Clinical Instructor, Family Practice
One of four anesthesiologists at
Mills Memorial Hospital, Dr. Geller
suddenly found herself spearheading
the creation of an Integrated
Clerkship program (one of only
three in the province), in which
medical students are stationed
at one location for a full year,
following patients through to various
specialties. The program hosted
three students last year, and is now
hosting another cohort of three. "I
always thought Terrace could play
a biggerteaching role," she says.
"We have a core group of specialists
who have the potential to be great
teachers, and I think our last year
showed that."
FORTST.JOHN
Clinical Instructor, Family Practice
To explain how an Aussie wound up
in the northern reaches of British
Columbia, Dr. Mackey says, "I took
a wrong turn in Albuquerque." He is
still there 13 years later, working to
make towns like Fort St. John part
of the network of medical education
in British Columbia. It's now into the
second year of a residency program,
with seven post-graduates stationed
there and in Dawson Creek, and this
fall launched its year-long integrated
clerkship program, in which
medical students spend an entire
year in one health care setting. Dr.
Mackey hopes to lessen his town's
dependence on physicians trained
in other countries-until two years
ago, the town's recruits came almost
exclusively from South Africa.
10
1 PORTMCNEILL
Clinical Professor, Family Practice
He was a young physician seeking
more autonomy when he landed
in Port McNeill in 1974, before
the town even had a road. Thanks
to his efforts, it's now a hub for
interprofessional education,
where students of medicine,
nursing, midwifery, social work,
pharmacology and laboratory
science shadow each other, do
rounds together, even live together.
A former president of the British
Columbia Medical Association, Dr.
Avery leads the Rural Coordination
Centre of BC, which fosters
communication among hundreds
of far-flung preceptors. "You have
lots of people working really hard,
doing really good work, but often
in silos," he says. "The idea here is
to help people cross-fertilize, and
think about what other people are
doing around the province." 16 UBC MEDICINE
L- R: President Stephen J. Toope and Dr. Gavin Stuart, Vice Provost Health and Dean,
Faculty of Medicine; Dr. Ross McGillivray. photos by martin dee, janis franklin
UBC CREATES EXPANDED ROLE
FOR DEAN GAVIN STUART
Dr. Gavin Stuart, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine since
2003, has taken on an enhanced role at the University of
British Columbia.
The UBC Board of Governors, acting on the recommendation
of President Stephen J. Toope, approved on September 24
the establishment of a new position, Vice Provost Health, and
approved that Dr. Stuart assume that position, with the title
Vice Provost Health and Dean, Faculty of Medicine.
In June, Dr. Stuart was reappointed Dean of Medicine for
a second term.To inform the reappointment process, an
external review of the Faculty was undertaken, followed by
the establishment of an advisory committee to recommend
on the reappointment to the President. Each process involved
extensive consultation with internal and external stakeholders.
The Review Report noted that Dr. Stuart's leadership was
instrumental in enabling the successful implementation of
the distributed medical education system and that the Faculty
is now viewed as a provincial organization. The report also
recommended that UBC appoint a Vice Provost Health to
represent UBC in interactions with other universities and with
the health authorities across the province.
The reappointment advisory committee, while unanimously
recommending Dr. Stuart's reappointment as Dean, also fully
agreed with the recommendation that the University appoint a
Vice Provost Health.
The position of Vice Provost Health at UBC will enable a
comprehensive representative role when dealing with the key
stakeholders in matters affecting the provincial distributed
model of medical education, teaching and research. Internal to
UBC, the Vice Provost Health will work closely with the Principal
of the College of Health Disciplines and the Deans of other
health-related Faculties.
Concurrent with this announcement of the new position of Vice
Provost Health, a new position was created at the Faculty of
Medicine-Vice Dean, Academic Affairs. Dr. Ross McGillivray,
Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and founding
Director of the Centre for Blood Research, was appointed
to that role, in which he will support the Dean in the area of
academic functions of the Faculty, with particular focus on
Faculty Affairs.
The Review Report noted that
Dr. Stuart's leadership was
instrumental in enablingthe
successful implementation
of the distributed medical
education system... L-R:Anita Palepu; Erica Frank, photos by eugene lin, martin dee
SETTING INFORMATION FREE:
TWO PROFESSORS BREAK DOWN BARRIERS TO KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER
The medical education and research complex is beset by
bottlenecks of knowledge.
First, there is the huge volume of research- much of it published in
priceyjournals, protected by copyright, and inaccessible to people
without easy access to an academic library. Another is the huge
demand for health professionals-the World Health Organization
estimates the shortfall at four million globally-and the limited
number of seats to train them all.
Anita Palepu and Erica Frank, through separate but parallel
efforts, are trying to open up those logjams.
Dr. Palepu, a Professor in the Department of Medicine, is the
founding co-editor of Open Medicine (www.openmedicine.ca),
Canada's first open access general medical journal. Open access
means what it is says - anyone can read it, no subscription
necessary, and reproduce its contents without concern for
copyright, as long as the source and authors are properly attributed.
Dr. Palepu and others started Open Medicine in 2007 after
resigningen masse from the Canadian Medical Association
Journal (CMAJ) to protest what they saw as inappropriate editorial
interference by the Canadian Medical Association.
"It really forced us to explore what our values were, and what was
important to us, and if we were to do this again, how would we do
it," she says.
Open Medicine, like conventional journals, uses the peer review
process to screen and edit research articles. But it doesn't accept
advertising, especially from pharmaceutical companies-an
income stream that Dr. Palepu sees as a "largely undeclared
conflict of interest" that could affect what gets published and
what doesn't. And the organizers of Open Medicine want their
articles to be freely and widely distributed.
Dr. Frank's project, Health Sciences Online (http://hso.info), is
an online portal to over 50,000 different pieces of health science
material scattered around the world, all of it screened for legitimacy
and value. But Dr. Frank, a Canada Research Chair in Preventive and
Population Health, wants HSO, which went live in December, to be
much more than a Google for the health care crowd.
Anita Palepu and Erica Frank,
through separate but parallel
efforts, are trying to open up
logjams of knowledge.
An ardent believer in distance education, she and her team are
creating educational programs that will result in certificates or
even diplomas. Students will use the HSO portal to listen to or
watch lectures, and read chapters and cases, all of it screened
by committees of experts in a particular field. Students also will
get face-to-face mentoring from local health care professionals,
submit written assignments to peers, and take standardized tests
to demonstrate their mastery of the subject.
One of the credentials closest to becoming reality is a certificate
in exercise and health that will carry the endorsement of the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American College
of Sports Medicine, the Fundacion Santa Fe Bogota Active Living
Program, and the Pedagogical University of Colombia.
"We want to show that this works and that we produce competent
practitioners, because this kind of thing is really new, and it
changes the scale drastically," she says. 18 UBC MEDICINE
:■
FROM BENCHSIDE
TO BEDSIDE:
BRAIN RESEARCH CENTRE SCIENTISTS EXPLORE
STROKE'S CAUSES, AND PATHS TO RECOVERY
01 | Studying the mechanics of blood flow
When blood stops flowing to the brain, its cells start dying within
minutes. The result is the devastating event known as stroke, the
leading cause of disability and the third leading cause of death
in Canada.
Even after the initial cause, such as a clot, is removed, about
30 percent of victims still suffer from decreased blood
flow-"leading to a slow death of nerve cells," says Psychiatry
Professor Brian MacVicar.
"There are changes happening, which we still don't understand,
that continue to disrupt the normal control of blood flow in the
brain," says Dr. MacVicar, a member of the Brain Research Centre,
a partnership between UBC and Vancouver Coastal Health
Research Institute.
A healthy functioning brain meets the metabolic needs of its
different parts by supplying just the right amount of glucose- and
oxygen-carrying blood at any particular moment. Dr. MacVicar,
a Canada Research Chair, is the lead coordinator of a team that
includes colleagues in the U.K., France, U.S. and Denmark, studying
how the brain accomplishes this feat, in the hope of helping people
whose brain blood flow has been severely compromised.
Last year, the team received a U.S. $6 million grant from the
Fondation Leducq in France, which encourages research
collaborations between North American and European scientists.
Just two months after the money started flowing, they had their
first achievement: an article in the journal Nature.
In previous work (also published in Nature), Dr. MacVicar found that
astrocytes, a specialized type of brain cell, cause blood vessels to
constrictor dilate in response to rising or falling levels of calcium in
surrounding tissue. In the more recent work, MacVicar's team laid
outthe complex chain reaction underlyingthese processes, involving
not only calcium but also lactic acid (a by-product of energy
consumption) and prostaglandin (a hormone-like chemical involved
in communication between cells). Dr. MacVicar and colleagues
originally thought dilation occurred because of increased release L-R:Tim Murphy and Brian MacVicar; Lara Boyd; Janice Eng. photos by martin dee
of prostaglandin by cells. But it turned out the dilation was due to
lactic acid inhibiting the uptake of prostaglandin by cells. While the
pathway was different, the net result was the same.
"It was a surprising pathway, more complicated than we thought
it would be," Dr. MacVicar says. "It's not intuitively what we
thought it would be."
02 | Redundant connections put to work
As vulnerable as the brain is to a decrease in blood flow, it also has
an amazing ability to recover.
Using specialized imaging techniques to peer at the brain
circuitry of mice before and immediately after a stroke, Professor
Tim Murphy, in the Department of Psychiatry, has found one
of those paths to recovery: a backup system for processing
information in areas destroyed by stroke damage.
Dr. Murphy, a member of the Brain Research Centre, was able to
map what areas of a mouse brain were activated when stimulating
its hindpaw or forepaw. He found that parts of the brain
supposedly dedicated to sensing hindpaw stimulation were also
activated when only the forepaw was stimulated.
These apparently off-target circuits, Dr. Murphy found, play
an important role even within minutes of a stroke, albeit at a
reduced capacity-a finding that has significant implications for
rehabilitation and therapy for victims.
Along those lines, Lara Boyd, an Assistant Professor in the
Department of Physical Therapy, is exploring one way to activate
those redundant circuits: applying electromagnetic stimulus to
the affected section of the brain, using a figure eight-shaped coil
placed next to a patient's head.
In experiments involving people who hadn't suffered a stroke,
Dr. Boyd found that those who received the stimulus were better
than a control group at tracking a moving target with a computer
mouse. She is now conducting the same experiment with stroke
victims, with results expected in coming months.
"The brain is an amazingly dynamic organ that can reorganize
itself," says Dr. Boyd, a Canada Research Chair and an investigator
at the Brain Research Centre. "What we want to do is to stimulate
and enhance brain cell reorganization around the damaged part
of the brain."
03 | Homework:The best medicine
For now, the only proven treatment to help stroke victims gain
mobility is rehabilitation therapy. Professor Janice Eng, in the
Department of Physical Therapy, is studying whether that
process could go faster if patients made use of the time between
therapy sessions.
Dr. Eng devised a set of exercises for the arm and hand - stacking
blocks, squeezing a ball, folding, buttoning and pouring-that
patients can do themselves with minimal supervision by therapists,
and can be done in the hospital or at home. Patients were given an
exercise book with written instructions and drawings.
Patients who participated in the program had greater arm function
at the end of four weeks compared to the control group, and those
differences were retained five months later.
"The ease of this program allows for a much higher amount of
physical therapy for patients recovering from stroke in hospital
than could ordinarily be delivered one-on-one by physical
therapists," says Dr. Eng, a member of the Brain Research Centre.
"It also has the benefit of providing a way for patients'families to
support the rehabilitation process."
Patients who did the exercises also had fewer depressive
symptoms than the control group.
The ease of the program allows for immediate uptake by health
care providers, and four hospitals in BC have implemented the
regimen. Eng has received additional funding from the Heart and
Stroke Foundation of BC and Yukon to develop a similar program
for leg rehabilitation. (The manual can be found at
www.rehab.ubc.ca/jeng/Our_Exercise_Manuals/GRASP.htm) 20 UBC MEDICINE
IP"?
WffiiJT Shafique Pirani, far right, has traveled back and forth to Uganda over
the past decade in his quest to cure clubfoot.
STRAIGHTE
BUILDING BR
G FEET AND
DGES
Fourteen thousand kilometres separate the UBC Faculty of
Medicine from Uganda. Shafique Pirani is trying to bridge that gap.
A Clinical Professor in the Department of Orthopaedics, Dr.
Pirani returned to the country of his youth a decade ago and has
made 20 subsequent trips, trying to rid the east African nation
of clubfoot, a birth defect in which one or both feet are turned
inward and downward.
He has been working not as a practitioner, but as a proselytizer
of the Ponseti method, a non-surgical way of curing clubfoot. By
gently manipulating a baby's foot, placing a cast on it, and then
repeating the process over several weeks, the flexible cartilage is
molded into the proper position and stays put as it becomes bone.
Pirani, an orthopaedic surgeon at Royal Columbian Hospital
in New Westminster, has helped make the Ponseti method
the standard in North America. But he has been even more
determined to see it taken up in Uganda, where the limitations
and pain imposed by clubfoot are so much more of a burden
(the main means of transportation is walking, while farming and
manual labour are the main occupations). Moreover, because the
treatment doesn't have to be performed by physicians, it's the
best hope for eradicating the condition in a country with so few
orthopaedic surgeons.
Funded in part by the Canadian International Development
Agency (CIDA), Dr. Pirani, Professor Richard Mathias, of the
School of Population and Public Health, and Edward Naddumba,
Head of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Uganda's
Makerere University, have worked to create a network of 30 clinics
throughout the country, staffed by "orthopedic officers;" he is
aiming to add 10 more before the grant expires next year.
Dr. Pirani estimates that about 40 percent of Ugandan babies born
with clubfoot are now being treated in one of those clinics. Many
of the other 60 percent, Dr. Pirani suspects, are babies not born
in hospitals. So the Ugandan Ministry of Health has undertaken
a public awareness campaign using posters, brochures and radio
spots in various languages. (To listen to the spots in English and
Luganda, go to www.med.ubc.ca/media/med_mag/clubfoot.htm).
"Because of the Ponseti treatment, children born in Uganda
with clubfeet now have a good chance to grow up with normally
functioning feet, freeing them from a lifetime of pain and
suffering," Dr. Pirani says.
By gently manipulating a baby's
foot, placing a cast on it...the
flexible cartilage is molded into
the proper position and stays
put as it becomes bone.
Dr. Pirani has received a $1 00,000 gift from an anonymous donor
to expand training within Uganda, and to replicate the project
in other countries. Various governments, including those in
Bangladesh, Mali, Nepal and the Indian state of Karnataka, have
expressed interest, and he has already taken his message to Brazil
and Malawi. VESTIGATIONS
& BREAKTHROUGHS
01 | Making streets safe
for cycling
If driving Vancouver's streets is
a bit slower these days, you may
have Kay Teschke to blame - or,
if you're a cyclist, to thank.
Dr. Teschke, a Professor in
the School of Population
and Public Health is leading
a research program called
"Cycling in Cities," which
aims to make urban areas
bike-friendly One project
influenced bythe study was
increased "traffic calming"-for
example, construction of traffic
circles - for residential bike
routes in Vancouver.
Dr.Teschke is one of 10 UBC
researchers participating in
the program, which includes
Transport Canada, the City
of Toronto, Metro Vancouver,
Translink and other partners.
Teschke says the initiative's
goal is to give municipalities
the information they need to
make the best decisions for
bike infrastructure types and
locations.
"By assessing routes for
injury risks and exploring
the factors that make people
want to cycle, we hope to
show cities how to build
pathways that are safer and
more convenient," says Dr.
Teschke, noting that their
research shows most cyclists
want to be away from traffic.
"But that's challenging,
because we are talking about
cities that are already built."
02 | Mobility research goes
truly mobile
Fall-related hip fractures among seniors
cost the province over $75 million each
year in direct hospital expenses.
The Centre for Hip Health &
Mobility took its research on
the road this fall, using a new
mobile lab that will travel
throughout BC, collecting data
from populations that are often
difficult to reach.
The equipment in the lab is
capable of evaluating bone
mass and strength in 3-D,
measuring total bone, fat and
muscle mass in the body and
predicting the future risk of falls
with 75 percent accuracy. Fall-
related hip fractures among
seniors cost the province over
$75 million each year in direct
hospital expenses.
The unit, unveiled in August
by Healthy Living and Sport
Minister Ida Chong, cost about
$500,000, including the truck
and trailer, with an additional
$500,000 to equip it.The mobile
lab was funded bythe Canada
Foundation for Innovation's
(CFI) innovation fund, the
British Columbia Knowledge
Development Fund (BCKDF) and
private donors to the VGH & UBC
Hospital Foundation.
"This lab is another example
of how the University of British
Columbia's Faculty of Medicine
has become a province-wide
enterprise," said Dr. Gavin Stuart,
Vice Provost Health and Dean
of the Faculty of Medicine. Just
as we expand our educational
programs throughout British
Columbia, our researchers are
also reaching farther afield to
get the most comprehensive,
diverse data about the health of
the population of the province."
fP 03 | Researchers find molecular
"key" for blood stem cell
transplants
A common problem with
blood stem cell transplants
is the failure of stem cells to
repopulate the thymus and
generate a type of white blood
cell called T-cells. Without
T-cells, the patient is unable
to fight infection and post-
transplant prognosis is poor.
Now Hermann Ziltener and
his research team at UBC's
Biomedical Research Centre
have identified a molecule
called S1P that can tell the
thymus to "open the gates" and
accept more stem cells.
"This discovery gives us a
handle on determining whether
the thymus will be receptive
to migrating stem cells," says
Dr. Ziltener, a Professor in
the Department of Pathology
and Laboratory Medicine. "By
treating patients with drugs
that control S1 R scientists can
now manipulate the thymic
gates to either open or close."
The same team had previously
identified several molecules
that function as the thymic
gates for migrating stem cells.
The recent study, published
in the Journal of Experimental
Medicine, is the first to home
in on the "key" molecule that
can open the thymic gate.
Researchers estimate that it
will be at least five years before
the d iscovery can be translated
into a clinical test.
04 | Tailoring treatment for
different types of breast cancer
Torsten Nielsen is helping
develop more personalized
treatment for women with a
certain type of breast cancer.
Approximately two-thirds of
breast cancer patients have
tumours whose growth is fed
bythe hormones estrogen
or progesterone. Although
tamoxifen or aromatase
inhibitors can block the
hormones, not all women
benefit. Survival rates could
be improved or side-effects
minimized by determining
which patients are at high
risk for recurrence, and thus
need more chemotherapy, and
which ones are at low risk, for
whom supplemental hormonal
therapy alone may be sufficient.
Doing so requires gene
expression tests that are
expensive and require
specialized lab equipment.
So Dr. Nielsen, an Associate
Professor in the Department
of Pathology and Laboratory
Medicine, has devised a panel
of simple, inexpensive antibody
tests that can distinguish
between the two types of
hormone receptive tumours:
Luminal A (low risk) and
Luminal B (high risk).
"Our antibody test can
be applied cheaply and
inexpensivelyto standard
pathology specimens, and so
far it seems to provide much
of the clinically-important
information gained from more
complicated molecular tests,"
says Dr. Nielsen, who also is a
clinician-researcher with the
Genetic Pathology Evaluation
Centre at the Vancouver Coastal
Health Research Institute and
BC Cancer Agency.
Approximately two-thirds of breast
cancer patients have tumours whose
growth is fed by the hormones estrogen
or progesterone.
■ L Julie losfina, a third-year medical
student, provided birthing support to
women from Vancouver's Downtown
Eastside. photo by martin dee
WHERE LEARNING
EETS THE PAVEME
T
Many students dream of the day when they can close their books,
trade the classroom for the workplace, and gain insights that can
be gleaned only from experience.
Julia losfina, a third-year medical student, didn't have to wait
until graduation.
losfina is one of many students participating in the Doctor,
Patient and Society (DPAS) course's innovative self-directed
project option. Second-year MD students forego the traditional
DPAS assignment in favour of a project of their own design, where
they explore how public health can affect whole populations
or individuals. Lessons are learned from working with fellow
students, community aid organizations, and government to bring
about change.
losfina, working with a team of nursing and midwifery students,
provided birthing support at the Fir Square Doula Project, which
caters to pregnant women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside,
many of whom are homeless, suffer from addictions and have
few resources for support.
"I learn more when I work hands-on and pursue my own interest,"
losfina says. "I immerse myself more in a project that I'm
interested in, rather than sitting in a discussion group discussing
prescribed topics. I like that my work actually impacts someone."
The shape, scope and outcomes of the projects differ
greatly. One team of students produced a documentary film,
Strange Bedfellows, that explored the relationship between
pharmaceutical sales representatives and family doctors. One
student introduced to Lower Mainland schools a program called
Do Bugs Need Drugs?, which teaches children about proper
hand-washing and the problem of antibiotic resistance. Another
student helped establish new chapters of Universities Allied for
Essential Medicines, an organization that encourages universities
to negotiate patent deals with pharmaceutical companies to make
drugs affordable for developing countries.
No matter the outcomes, Gary Poole, Associate Course Director of
the DPAS self-directed project option, thinks that all projects are
ultimately a success.
"A project that sets out to change the world, but doesn't change the
world, can still be very successful because the student in question
learned a great deal," says Dr. Poole, who is also Director of UBC's
Centre forTeaching and Academic Growth.
Self-directed projects increase a student's cultural sensitivity
and ability to assess the health needs of a particular
subpopulation, while also teaching the fundamental skills and
ethics of health care research. Students also learn to work
collaboratively to affect change - lessons that they may not
otherwise get in the regular curriculum.
"One of the most important things they learn is that nothing is
ever straightforward," says DebbyAltow, a DPAS Project Tutor. "It's
a bit of a cold shower to realize that the passion you have is not
necessarily shared to the same degree by those who are in place
to implement or move it forward."
Project management, goal-setting, communication skills and
multidisciplinary collaboration may prove the most long-lasting
lessons, especially as the students become doctors with the
ability to improve the health of the population through public
health initiatives and research.
The self-directed option is in its seventh year, and has grown from
the initial seven students to 82.
"The thing that I am most excited about is that it is truly self-
directed," Dr. Poole says. "It's what happens as an educator when
you get out of the way, not in the way." Margaret and Glen Carlson, at their home in Merritt.
PHOTO BYTIM SWANKY
PAY IT FORWARD:
HOW A $300 LOAN HELPED ENABLE
THE NEXT GENERATION OF PHILANTHROPY
Glen Carlson remembers the time he spent at UBC in the 1950s,
earning a bachelor's and medical degree, as "probably the greatest
decade of my life." It also was the most difficult for him financially.
As a third-year medical student, "I literally ran out of money," he
recalls. "I couldn't pay my landlady in Vancouver."
A meeting with a dean led to a $300 loan from an endowment
created by a family- enough to pay his rent and finish the year.
That experience helps explains why he and his wife Margaret, who
earned her UBC medical degree four years later, became two of the
most important donors for student aid in the Faculty of Medicine.
The financial stress of being a medical student, they believe, is
even greater now.
"It's been a long time since we've been students, and so I don't
think we really appreciate how much it costs to get a higher
education today," Glen says. "The fees aren't small, the cost
of accommodation is not small, and a lot of young people are
running up tremendous student debts."
The Carlsons, retired family practitioners in Merritt, BC, say their
contributions are nothing exceptional, but the 20 students who
have received the Glen and Margaret Carlson Bursary might
disagree. The endowment they created has already generated
$55,085 since it was created in 2005, and will continue to generate
more for financially needy students for years to come. The Carlsons
also have planned to support UBC through their estate.
After graduating in 1 960, Glen practiced in Burnaby for three years
while Margaret, whom he married in 1961, completed her medical
degree. Coming from Port Alberni, though, Glen felt that big-city
hospitals weren't the best fit for him. When a colleague asked him
to join a practice in Merritt, he quickly agreed.
"I just like the challenge of dealing with everything," Glen says. "We
did some surgery, some anesthesia, some obstetrics, we looked
after the emergency room, and of course we did an office practice
as well. And you got to know everybody in the community... I could
never quite understand why a lot of my classmates didn't do that.
But most of them either specialized or ended up in a big city."
Margaret, who grew up in Vancouver.joined him in Merritt upon
graduating in 1964. For most of their 45 years there, she was the
only female doctor in town.
Despite living 300 kilometers from their alma mater, they remained
connected to it. "The university wasn't far from our minds at any
particular time," Margaret says.
"The fees aren't small, the cost of
accommodation is not small, and
a lot of young people are running
up tremendous student debts."
— Glen Carlson
While the Carlsons believe they have a responsibility to reduce the
burden of student debt, they also have received a great deal of joy
from their philanthropy, especially when meeting students who
have benefited from it.
"It's very enjoyable," says Margaret. "It's nice to know what they're
thinking and where they're heading."
"If anybody can afford to assist others, and particularly the
university, then I would encourage them to do so," Glen says.
"Education is the key to everything." William H. Ross, speaking at the September 16
announcement of the fellowship created in his name.
PHOTO BY DOUG NICOLLE, PROVIDENCE HEALTH CARE MEDIA SERVICES
ONE MAN'S VISION SAVED-
ANY OTHERS TO COME
After having the vision in his only seeing eye saved by a UBC
faculty member, Gwyn Morgan and his wife, Patricia Trottier,
have returned the favour-forthe next 25 years.
Thanks to a $1,375 million gift from the couple's foundation,
the Faculty of Medicine and the St. Paul's Hospital Foundation
have created the William H. Ross Fellowship in Vitreo-Retinal
Excellence.
Each year for the next 25 years, the fellowship will allow Dr. Ross,
a Clinical Professor and one of Canada's most experienced retinal
surgeons, to select one post-graduate retinal fellow from among
the world's best to train with the retinal staff at UBC.
"Dr. Ross is one of North America's most respected vitreo-
retinal specialists," said Mr. Morgan, former president and
CEO of EnCana Corporation, North America's largest natural
gas producer. "Over a career spanning 36 years, he has saved
the vision of thousands of patients, including my own. Patricia
and I are pleased to recognize his outstanding expertise and
contributions and to provide an opportunity for other promising
young doctors to follow in his footsteps."
The annual contribution from the Gwyn Morgan and Patricia
Trottier Foundation will be commensurate with the salary of a
second-year ophthalmology resident at UBC to accommodate
any possible inflation over the next two and a half decades.
"It has been my pleasure to train some of the world's leading
vitreo-retinal specialists at St. Paul's Hospital and UBC over
the past 24 years," said Dr. Ross, a surgeon at St. Paul's Hospital
and chair of the UBC Vitreo-Retinal Fellowship Program. "This
new fellowship ensures the next generation of specialists will
continue to advance the medical education, clinical research and
care of patients with retinal diseases in BC and around the world."
The inaugural recipient of the fellowship, Dr. Andrew Kirker,
said working with Dr. Ross will be an ideal learning experience
because of his intense commitment to both innovative research
and helping patients.
"He has written papers that have fundamentally changed the
way we manage certain retinal detachments," he said when the
fellowship was officially announced on September 1 6, adding
that Dr. Ross works as hard in his clinics as he does on his
research. "He is up early seeing patients at 7:30, and he works
late nights and weekends. This combination makes for a great
fellowship experience."
"Dr. Ross has advanced the knowledge and skills of medical
students, ophthalmology residents, and fellows now caring
for patients in hospitals around the world," said Dr. Frederick
Mikelberg, Head of the Department of Ophthalmology and
Visual Sciences.
"This fellowship in Dr. Ross' name recognizes the global
contribution that he has made in educating medical students,
ophthalmology residents and fellows throughout a long and
distinguished career," said Dr. Gavin Stuart, Vice Provost Health
and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine.
Gwyn Morgan led EnCana Corporation,
North America's largest natural gas producer,
through a merger that was widely viewed as
the most significant transaction in Canadian
energy sector history.
Over the past decade, Patricia Trottier has dedicated her time
to a variety of wellness, social and business causes including
founding the Integrative Health Institute in Calgary, Fundacion
Nan Paz in Ecuador, chairing Calgary's Economic Development
Authority and leading Calgary's 2010 Winter Olympic Bid. 28 UBC MEDICINE
MAKING A MARK;
ACHIEVEMENTS & AWARDS
01 | Johanna Schuetz,
currently pursuing a PhD in the
Department of Med ical Genetics,
received the 2008 Lionel E.
McLeod Health Research
Scholarship from the Alberta
Heritage Foundation for Medical
Research. The one-year award is
given annually to an outstanding
student at the University of
Alberta, University of Calgary
or UBC for research related
to human health. Schuetz's
research focuses on the genetics
of susceptibilityto non-Hodgkin
lymphoma, the fifth most
common cancer in Canada.
02 | 2009 Distinguished
Achievement Awards of the
Faculty of Medicine
Excellence in education
Andrew MacNeily, Associate
Professor, Urologic Sciences
Ian Scott, Associate Professor,
Family Practice
Excellence in basic science
research
Leonard Foster, Assistant
Professor, Biochemistry &
Molecular Biology
Catherine van Raamsdonk,
Assistant Professor, Medical
Genetics
Excellence in clinical or
applied research
David Huntsman, Associate
Professor, Pathology &
Laboratory Medicine
Todd Woodward, Assistant
Professor, Psychiatry
Service to the University
and community
David Kuhl, Associate Professor,
Family Practice
Adele Diamond, Professor,
Psychiatry
Overall excellence
Jason Barton, Professor,
Medicine and Ophthalmology &
Visual Sciences
Natalie Strynadka, Professor,
Biochemistry & Molecular
Biology
Outstanding contribution by a
senior faculty member (three
were awarded in 2009 due to
2nd-place tie)
Peter Pare, Professor, Medicine
David McLean, Professor,
Dermatology & Skin Science
Anthony Phillips, Professor,
Psychiatry
03 | Katherine Paton, Executive
Associate Dean, Clinical and
Community Partnerships, is
among the 53 senior women
faculty selected for the
2009-2010 class of fellows
in the Hedwigvan Ameringen
Executive Leadership in
Academic Medicine (ELAM)
Program for Women at Drexel
University College of Medicine in
Philadelphia. ELAM is the only
national program dedicated to
preparing senior women faculty
for leadership at academic
health centers.
04 | Faculty of Medicine
Applegarth Staff Service Award:
Michael Hockertz, Director
of Core Facilities, Centre
for Molecular Medicine and
Therapeutics
Alan Jay, Graduate Secretary,
Cellular and Physiological
Sciences
2009 Faculty of Medicine
Clinical Faculty Award for
Excellence in Teaching:
Robert Hawkins, Clinical
Professor, Orthopaedics
Angela Spencer, Clinical
Assistant Professor, Family
Practice
LeslieZypchen, Clinical
Assistant Professor, Medicine
Donna Drynan, Clinical
Associate Professor,
Occupational Sciences and
Occupational Therapy
Andrea Chapman, Clinical
Assistant Professor, Psychiatry
2009 Faculty of Medicine
Career Award for Excellence in
Clinical Teaching:
Andrew Macnab, Professor,
Pediatrics
Robert Meek, Clinical Professor,
Orthopaedics
2009 Faculty of Medicine
Significant Impact of Teaching
in the Local Community:
Peter Pom me rville, Clinical
Associate Professor, Urologic
Sciences
Tina Moran, Clinical Instructor,
Physical Therapy
Shafique Pirani, Clinical
Professor, Orthopaedics
2009 Faculty of Medicine
Award for Initiatives in Health
Promotion and Sustainability:
Department of Medicine's
Health & Wellness Program
2008 Faculty of Medicine
Innovation in CME/CPD Award:
Kendall Ho, Associate Professor,
Surgery, and Director, eHealth
Strategy Office
2009 Faculty of Medicine Bill
and Marilyn Webber Lifetime
Achievement Award:
Judith Hall, Professor Emerita,
Pediatrics and Medical Genetics ABOVE: Johanna Schuetz; TOP ROW L- R: Katherine Paton; Donald Garbuz (on right) with patient;
BOTTOM ROWL- R: Judith Hall; Brenda Loveridge; Julio Montaner; Sharon Salloum; Michael Hayden.
05 | A team of four orthopaedic
surgeons from the Faculty
of Medicine and Vancouver
General Hospital received the
John Charnley Award from
the Hip Society for a study
that raises questions about
a common hip replacement
surgery.
The study by Donald S. Garbuz,
Bas Masri, Clive P. Duncan
and Nelson Greidanus found
that patients who underwent
total hip replacement using
large-diameter metal heads
had much higher levels of
metal ions in their blood
than patients who received
resurfacing, in which the
damaged hip's ball and socket
are covered with smooth
metal. The data prompted the
team to report the findings
early, halt all surgeries with
large-diameter metal heads,
and reduce the head size for
large-head replacements.
06 | The three major annual
Awards for Excellence given by
the Physiotherapy Association
of British Columbia were given
to members of the Department
of Physical Therapy:
> Award for Excellence in
Education: Sue Murphy,
Instructor and Academic
Coordinator of Clinical
Education for the Masters of
Physical Therapy program
> Award for Excellence in
Leadership: Nancy Cho,
Clinical Assistant Professor
> Award for Excellence for
Professional Contribution:
Brenda Loveridge, Clinical
Professor and former Interim
Department Head (now Special
Advisor to the Dean, Allied
Health Professions)
07 | Professor Julio Montaner,
in the Department of Medicine,
is the 2009 recipient of the
Leadership Award from
LifeSciences British Columbia.
Dr. Montaner, Director of the
BC Centre for Excellence in
HIV/AIDS and President of the
International AIDS Society, was
recognized for his leadership
in "treatment strategies
and removing the barriers
to seeking and maintaining
treatment."
08 | Medical Undergraduate
Society Teaching Awards
> Year I Teaching Excellence
Award (from the Class of
2011): Majid Doroudi, Senior
Instructor, Cellular and
Physiological Sciences
> Year II Teaching Excellence
Award (from the Class of
2010): Morris Pudek, Clinical
Professor, Pathology and
Laboratory Medicine, and
Jason Ford, Assistant
Professor, Pathology and
Laboratory Medicine
> Year III Teaching Excellence
Award (from the Class of 2009):
Jag Ubhi, Clinical Assistant
Professor, Obstetrics and
Gynecology
> Dr. WilliamA. Webber Award:
Sharon Salloum, Associate
Dean, MD Undergraduate
Program, Student Affairs
09 | Two faculty members
were awarded the Order of
British Columbia, the highest
recognition the province can
bestow on its citizens:
Michael Hayden, Killam
Professor of Medical Genetics,
has helped identify seven
causal genes for disabling,
devastating conditions,
including Huntington's disease.
The Director of the Centre
for Molecular Medicine and
Therapeutics, he also is
co-founder of three biotech
companies. He was named
Canada's Health Researcher of
the Year in 2008 bythe Canada
Institutes for Health Research.
Linda Warren, Clinical Professor
in the Department of Radiology,
helped establish the Screening
Mammography Program of BC,
the first in North America. Now
the chief provincial screening
rad iologist, Dr. Warren's work
has made breast cancer
mortality in BC the lowest
in Canada, and as a Clinical
Professor, has helped train most
of the radiologists currently
practicing in the province.
10 | 2009 UBC Killam
Teaching Prizes
Majid Doroudi, Senior
Instructor, Cellular and
Physiological Sciences
Andrew MacNeily, Associate
Professor, Urologic Sciences
Barbara Purves, Assistant
Professor, Audiology & Speech
Sciences
Darlene Redenbach, Senior
Instructor, Physical Therapy L- R: Bob McCormack; Jack Taunton, photos BY: PAUL WRIGHT, martin dee
ON CALL FOR THE OLYMPICS
Jack Taunton and Bob McCormack came close, as runners, to
participating in the Olympics. But they ultimately found a way to
vicariously experience the thrill of the world's most prestigious
collection of sporting events: As physicians.
Dr.Taunton, a Professor in the Family Practice Department's Division
of Sports Medicine, is Chief Medical Officer for the 2010 Winter
Olympic and Paralympic Games in Vancouver, responsible for the
health and safety of all of the athletes, coaches, families,VIPs and
spectators at all of the events taking place in February and March.
Dr. McCormack, an Associate Professor in Orthopaedics, is Chief
Medical Officer for the Canadian Olympic team, responsible for
making sure the athletes vying for slots in their sports, and the 250
or so who ultimately compete, are in prime condition.
He performed the same role at the 2008 Summer Games in
Beijing and the 2006 Winter Games in Turino. Although each team
has its own doctor and other health professionals, he is often
sought out for his expert opinion on orthopaedic issues, and
ultimately weighs in on major decisions, including whether an
athlete is well enough to compete.
"When push comes to shove, it comes on my plate," Dr. McCormack
says.
It's not always so clear-cut. A concussion, communicable disease,
or stress fracture wouldn't necessarily prevent an athlete
from competing. In Beijing, he had to deal with a swimmer who
developed an infectious disease, leading to fears that the entire
Canadian team might be ejected from the Olympic Village. The
athlete was forced to sit out one event, but after much wrangling
by Dr. McCormack and others, was allowed to compete in a
subsequent one.
In Vancouver, the threat of disease will loom larger than ever,
thanks to the H1 N1 virus- but that is just one of the myriad
threats that Dr. Taunton has been preparing for. Some of the
others include food poisoning, air pollution, terrorist attacks,
and major accidents. (A simulation exercise he organized in June
involved a two-man bobsled that careens off the track into the
stands.) He will have 44 ambulances and two helicopters at his
command. He also carries two BlackBerries.
One of his biggest challenges has been creating two
1 0,000-square-foot "polyclinics" to avoid putting a strain on
Vancouver Coastal Health's facilities. The one at Whistler is
a specially-ordered modular complex that includes a mobile
operating theatre-a requirement of the International Olympic
Committee, which was concerned that foul weather could prevent
the evacuation of seriously injured people.
A simulation exercise he
organized in June involved a
two-man bobsled that careens
off the track into the stands.
On top of that, Dr. Taunton oversees anti-doping enforcement,
which has meant creating a 17,500-square-foot, 24-hour-a-
day lab at the Richmond Oval. With a staff of more than 50, it's
planning to process 2,000 tests (compared to the 1,300 tests
performed at the 2006 Winter Games).
Dr. Taunton says his job, while "all-encompassing," would be
impossible if not for the high caliber of the people on his medical
and anti-doping teams. But he has stretched himself in the
process. Before this post, he had never sent e-mail. And the
task of securing the equipment, supplies and staff- including
treatment tables from the Department of Physical Therapy, or
defibrillators from Medtronic- required that he tap his network of
health care contacts around Vancouver and Canada.
"Bythe time I finish this job, I'll be ready to be a carpet salesman,"
he says. BC GENERATIONS PROJECT
Your time today builds a healthier tomorrow.
We need you
The BC Generations Project
is part of the largest cohort
study ever in Canada. In
BC, we're recruiting 40,000
people, 40-69 years old. The
data we collect will provide an
unprecedented resource for
Canadian health researchers
Please sign up today, tell your
friends and referyour patients.
Referral pads are available
Toll Free 1.877.675.8221
www.bcgenerationsproject.ca
UBC BOOKSTORE
www.bookstore.ubc.ca
HEALTH
SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT
Shop in person at our Point Grey
Location or from our online store
• 7,000 medical book titles in stock including:
Latest editions
Medical reference books
• Knowledgeable Medical Book assistance
• Special Order Service
• Online Medical Bookstore featuring
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NEW - Shop online for Medical Instruments
6200 University Blvd., Vancouver, B.C.V6T 1Z4
www.bookstore.ubc.ca
Direct Line: (604) 822-4295
We're here for you 24 hours a day,
seven days a week.
UBC MEDICINE CLOTHING 2009
Fundraiser for Class of 2012 Rural Practice
24-Hour Help Line
1-800-663-6729
www.physicianhealth.com
The Physician Health Program of British Columbia
offers help to BC physicians, residents, medical
students and their immediate families for a wide
range of personal and professional problems:
physical, psychological and social. If something
is on your mind, give us a call.
I A Physician
____B._ Health Program
IB British Columbia
Connecting Physicians to Health
All profits go towards the Class of 2012 Rural Practice
Catalogue: www.ubcmed.com/docs/ubcmedclothing2009.pdf
Questions? ubcmedclothing2009@gmail.com
Thank you for your support! FALL 2009: MEDICAL ALUMNI NEWS
President's Report 34
Wallace Wilson Leadership Award 35
Honourary Alumni Awards 36
Silver Anniversary Award 37
Olympic Memories 38
Awards, Achievements, Activities 39
MAA Golf Tournament 40
MUS and MSAC Reports 41
List of Graduates 42-
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i VV MEDICAL ALU
PRESIDENT'S REPORT
ASSOCIATIO
Providing Alumni Recognition
One of the highlights of being
president of the Medical Alumni
Association is presenting awards
of noteworthy achievement at the
Annual General Meeting. This
year's recipients of the awards are
highlighted in the Alumni fall
edition and I would again like to
take this opportunity to extend
my congratulations to them. I
have found the biographies of the
individuals receiving these awards
to be inspirational and incredibly
interesting. However, I have also
thought of all the individuals
in our alumni that have had
fascinating accomplishments or
activities in their lives that most
of us are unaware of or may never
have been recognized. It would
be fitting if recognition could
be given to these many others.
Recognizing these individuals and
the family members who have
supported them is encouraging
and enlightening for others to see.
It builds pride in our profession
and helps to expand our
awareness for one another.
I have been impressed with the
level and scope of talent that
is found in the classes of the
medical school. Examples of these
are demonstrated in a variety
of ways. Two ways that come
to mind are the play that is put
on by the second year class as a
fundraiser for rural practice and
the Spring Gala Talent Night
performed annually at the Chan
Centre. These events demonstrate
outstanding talent in drama,
music, dance and many other
unique abilities. These students
graduate and join the rest of the
Medical Alumni who have not
only excelled in clinical medicine,
research and teaching but in a
variety of interesting facets of
life. In our profession we have
Olympians and other athletic
stars, concert pianists, opera
singers, artists and politicians.
For example the Medical Alumni
Association recognized Dr.
William Carpentier (MD'61)
this summer who has had the
distinction of being the NASA
physician for the Apollo 11 crew
forty years ago. In this capacity he
spent three weeks in quarantine
with the returning crew from the
first moon landing.
The Alumni Association would
like to recognize as many as
possible for their contributions in
all aspects of life. This recognition
could be provided through a
variety of methods including
articles in the Medical Alumni
News. We need your help! Please
let us know of individuals that
you would like to acknowledge
or whose activities would be of
interest to all.
Please send their names and
information to Campbell, Senior
Alumni Relations Manager for the
Faculty of Medicine. Her e-mail
address is anne.campbell@ubc.ca,
and her mailing address is at the
Medical Student Alumni Centre,
2750 Heather St., Vancouver B.C.,
V5Z 4M2.
Your Medical Alumni Association
Executive looks forward to the
coming 60th anniversary year of
our UBC Medical School. We
thank you for your support.
Yours sincerely,
yi.
Jim Lane, MD 73
President
UBC Medical Alumni Association
MEDICAL ALUMNI
ASSOCIATION BOARD
2009- 2010
PRESIDENT
Jim Lane, MDV3
PRESIDENT-ELECT
Marshall Dahl, MD'86
PAST-PRESIDENT
Lynn Doyle, mdvb
TREASURER
Harvey Lui, MD'86
ISLAND MEDICAL REPRESENTATIVE
Ian Courtice, mdto
NORTHERN
MEDICAL
REPRESENTATIVES
Gait Wilson, MD79
Don MacRitchie, mdvo
SOUTHERN MEDICAL REPRESENTATIVE
Tom Kinahan, md'84
Mike Colbey, md'80
NEWSLETTER EDITOR
Beverley Tamboline, MD'60
ADMISSIONS SELECTION COMMITTEE
Jim Cupples, MD'8i
ADMISSIONS POLICY COMMITTEE
David W. Jones, mdvo
DIRECTOR
Bob Cheyne, MDV7
DIRECTOR
Bruce Fleming, mdvb
DIRECTOR
Ron Warneboldt, mdvs
DIRECTOR
Andrew Yu, md'94
EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS
DEAN, FACULTY OF MEDICINE
Dr Gavin Stuart
ALUMNI AFFAIRS OFFICE
Anne Campbell
FACULTY REPRESENTATIVE
Barbara Fitzgerald, MD'85 L- R: Dr. Arun Garg, MD'77; Dr. Jim Lane, MD'73, Dr. Gargand Dr. Jim Cupples, MD'81.
WALLACE WILSON LEADERSHIP AWARD
DR. ARUN GARG, MD'77
MUS REPRESENTATIVE
Mattias Berg
ADVISOR
Arun Garg, MDV7
ADVISOR
David F. Hardwick, MD'57
ADVISOR
Charles Slonecker, dds, PhD
OBJECTIVES
To support the Faculty of Medicine and its
programs directly and through advocacy
with the public and government;
To ensure open communication among
alumni and between the alumni and the
Faculty of Medicine;
To encourage and support medical
students and residents and their activities;
To organize and foster academic and
social activities for the alumni
The Medical Alumni News is published
semi-annually and this edition was
produced by the UBC Faculty of
Medicine. We welcome your suggestions,
ideas and opinions Please send
comments, articles and letters to:
Beverley Tamboline, MD'60
Alumni Affairs Faculty of Medicine
2750 Heather Street
Vancouver, BC V5Z4M2
Ph: 604 87S 4111 ext. 67741
Fax: 604 875 5778
Med Alumni@ubc ca
Many of us don't know who
Wallace Wilson was.
He was a great Canadian
physician who took leadership
roles as Presidents of the CMA,
the College of Physicians and
Surgeons of BC and the Chair
of the CMA Ethics Committee.
He was actively involved in the
development of health insurance
and the establishment of the
Faculty of Medicine at UBC.
The Wallace Wilson Award is
awarded annually to a graduate
of the Faculty of Medicine of
UBC who has demonstrated high
ethical standards and outstanding
leadership to the profession.
This award exemplifies Arun's
contribution to the profession.
Arun was born in Agra, India,
the city of the Taj Mahal. After
receiving a Master of Sciences in
Chemistry from Agra University,
he moved to Canada, where he
received a PhD in biochemistry
from the University of
Saskatchewan. He subsequently
entered UBC Medical School
and graduated in 1977. This
was followed by a residency in
medical biochemistry at UBC,
receiving his FRCPC in 1980.
He has been on the UBC Clinical
Faculty in Pathology since
1981 and is presently a Clinical
Professor of Pathology.
He has practiced medical
biochemistry at the Royal
Columbian Hospital since 1980
and has been the Director of
Laboratory Services at Simon Fraser
Health Region and now the Fraser
Health Authority since 1986.
During this time he has also held a
number of leadership positions in
Dr. C.J. Coady Associates, a large
pathology partnership providing
complete pathology services to the
Fraser Health Authority and to BC
Biomedical Laboratories for nearly
50 years.
This however was not enough to
keep Arun occupied. He has held
numerous leadership positions
and been on countless numbers
of medicine related committees.
The more significant positions
are President of the Professional
Association of Residents & Interns,
President of the BC Society of
Clinical Chemists, President of the
Westminster Medical Association,
President of the BC Medical
Association, Chair of the Council
of Health Policy & Economics,
Canadian Medical Association and
Co-Chair of the Guidelines and
Protocol Advisory Committee,
Medical Services Commission.
Still this was not enough; he
has held leadership positions in
many community and volunteer
organizations. Some of the notable
positions include: Founding
Member of the Canadian
Physicians with Interest in South
Asia; Chair of the Board of
Governors, BCIT; Member of the
Board of Governors, University of
BC; and Co-Chair, Simon Fraser
University Presidents' Advisory
Committee on India.
In recognition of his commitment
and achievements he has received
several prestigious awards
including the 2008 Distinguished
Visiting Scholar award from the
Government of India, the first
Canadian to receive this award,
the BC Medical Association Silver
Medal of Service and the UBC
Medical Alumni Silver Anniversary
Award, Class of 1977.
During these busy years Arun has
practiced at the top of his medical
specialty, essentially full time and
been able to present and publish on
various topics.
In spite of these activities he has
managed to stay married and raise
one adult son.
Even after knowing and working
with Arun for so long, reviewing
Arun's CV, was both inspiring and
exhausting. I can think of no one
more deserving of the Wallace
Wilson Award.
Presented by Jim Cupples, MD '81 L- R: Dr. Roberta Ongley; Dr. Gavin Stuart; Dr. David Hardwick,
MD '57, Nancy Thompson and Dr. Jim Lane, MD '73.
HONOURARY ALUMNI AWARDS
01 I Honourary Alumna -
Roberta Ongley
Dr. Roberta Ongley was born and
raised in Toronto. She originally
gave thought to a career in Law
as her father was a lawyer, but did
not think he was too enthusiastic
about "Ongley and Daughter" on
the office door. So she opted for
Medicine, graduating from the
University of Toronto in 1967.
She decided on an internship in
Vancouver for two reasons; she
had never been here and VGH
was the best paid internship in the
country at $400.00 per month.
During this year, Roberta decided
to stay in Vancouver and also
became interested in Dermatology.
After a year as a resident in general
medicine and one in pathology,
she entered the dermatology
residency, receiving her FRCPC in
1972. She then became a teaching
fellow and joined Dr. Bill Stewart
in practice. Shortly after they
moved into university space near
VGH and established the official
Division of Dermatology, with
teaching practices, expansion of the
residency program and an attempt
to increase undergraduate exposure
to dermatology, although for some
years this was more successful in
Pharmacy than Medicine.
During her residency Roberta
had two special mentors. Dr. Bill
Stewart guided her into teaching
and research. Her favourite
part of teaching was the office
preceptorship program, although
lecturing was a close second. As
well as lectures to students, she has
been a presenter at many meetings
and has been a visiting lecturer.
She has authored or co-authored
28 journal publications and edited,
authored and narrated a video
collection in Dermatology. Her area
of special interest in dermatology is
immunofluoresence microscopy. At
the time of her retirement she was a
Clinical Associate Professor and was
a consultant at VGH, BCCA and
GF Strong Rehab Centre.
The second mentor was Dr. Peggy
Johnson, who awakened Roberta's
political interests, which started
by getting her involved with the
local Branch of the Federation of
Medical Women of Canada, then
onto the National organization
as the representative to the CMA
General Council. BCMA was
next, starting as a member of the
Board as a delegate and then on
the Executive as Hon. Secretary-
Treasurer followed by Chair of
the General Assembly. Next was
the presidency of the Vancouver
Medical Association and the
Pacific Northwest Dermatology
Society. Several years were spent
on the Medical Advisory Board
of the GF Strong Rehab Centre,
and many other organizations and
committees.
Awards have also come her way,
including the Vancouver Medical
Association's Primus Inter Pares
Award in 1989, the Canadian
Dermatology Association Award
of Merit in 2007 and the CMA
Honourary Membership in 2008.
It is my privilege and pleasure to
present Dr. Roberta Ongley as an
Honourary Alumna.
Presented by Beverley Tamboline,
MD'60
02 | Honourary Alumnus —
Gavin Stuart
Dr. Gavin Stuart was appointed
as the Dean of the Faculty of
Medicine, University of British
Columbia, in September 2003.
A native of Manitoba, he attended
The University of Western Ontario
for his undergraduate medical
and postgraduate training in
obstetrics and gynecology. This
was followed by a Fellowship in
Gynecological Oncology at Wayne
State University in Detroit.
Dr. Stuart was Director of the
Department of Gynecology at
the Tom Baker Cancer Centre in
Calgary for 10 years. He went on
to become Professor and Head
of the Department of Oncology
and Professor in the Department
of Obstetrics and Gynecology
at the University of Calgary and
Director of the Tom Baker Cancer
Centre for 12 years. He was also
appointed as Vice-President of the
Alberta Cancer Board.
His clinical research interests and
publications have been in the area
of gynecologic cancer, including
population-based screening
programs and the conduct of
clinical trials as therapeutic
interventions in gynecologic cancer.
He is currently the Chair for the
Gynecology Site Committee of
the National Cancer Institute of
Canada (NCIC) Clinical Trials
Group. Having been active for
many years in the design and
implementation of a number of
major international intergroup
trials in ovarian cancer he is the
Chair-elect of the Gynecologic
Cancer Intergroup (an international
collaboration for clinical trials).
Dr. Stuart has been active in
leadership roles in many national
and US committees on medical
education, health human resource
planning and evidence-based
guideline development. In his
current role, he continues to
function as a Gynecological
Oncologist and a member of
the team at the Vancouver
Hospital and BC Cancer Agency,
Vancouver. He has received both
an FRCSC and an FACOG.
He enjoys woodworking, running
regularly and remains actively
involved in alpine ski racing. Dr.
Stuart and his wife Janet have
three young adult children.
From the presentation by Jim Lane,
MD'73 SILVER ANNIVERSARY AWARD
ROMAYNE GALLAGHER, MD '84
03 I Honourary Alumna-
Nancy Thompson
Nancy Thompson has provided a
welcoming presence at the William
A. Webber Medical Student and
Alumni Centre for nearly a decade.
Her warm personality combined
with enormous energy and care
and attention to the Centre have
created a home like environment
for the many students and others
that use the facility. Nancy is
attentive to ensuring that each
person that uses the MSAC has a
rewarding experience.
When required, Nancy not only
supervised the MSAC facility,
but also provided secretarial and
other support for the Medical
Alumni Association, in effect doing
two jobs! With the doubling of
the enrollment in the Faculty of
Medicine, Nancy now not only
supervises the MSAC but also
enables students to conduct video
cast presentations throughout
our distributed sites provincially
In sum, Nancy Thompson is
an amazing person who adds
immeasurably to the rich social and
recreational life of the Faculty of
Medicine students and alumni. It
is my very great pleasure to present
the Honourary Alumna Award for
2009 to Nancy Thompson.
Presented by David P. Hardwick,
MD'57
I am writing this to celebrate my
friend and colleague—Romayne
Gallagher—on her winning the
25th year Medical Alumni award
for the class of 1984.
Romayne has inspired me with
her wit and energy since medical
school. Through her work as a
palliative care physician, she has
become a well known authority
provincially and nationally on
pain management, and end of
life care. She has fought for
appropriate resources for people
needing palliative care and has
served her family physician and
interdisciplinary team colleagues
through teaching, consultation,
and writing about issues related to
palliative care.
One of the things I have found
most inspiring about her is the
way she lives out her values.
Romayne has always been brave
in dealing with issues that are
controversial. Sometimes this
has meant talking with her
feet, and looking toward new
challenges and opportunities for
growth. My relationship with
Romayne (both personal and
professional) has been rekindled
since she moved into a leadership
role within the Elder Care and
Palliative Care Programs at
Providence Health Care. There,
she has begun to teach us about a
palliative approach to residential
care, has generated powerful
arguments regarding disparities
of end of life funding between
the young in hospice and the
old in residential care, and has
helped elders in residential
care receive appropriate pain
management. She models the best
of interprofessional collaborative
care for her patients.
Romayne is a clinical professor
with the department of Family
Practice at the University of British
Columbia. She has published
numerous papers and book
chapters relating to Palliative Care
and Pain Management. She has
received recognition as Family
Physician of the year in British
Columbia. In addition, Romayne
has been a committed wife and
mother to two amazing children,
as well as caring for a beautiful
garden at her home in Vancouver.
Romayne is always supportive
and encouraging, yet is not afraid
to "call a spade a spade." We
need more physicians like her in
this province. I, for one, would
be thrilled if we could clone her
knowledge, energy, commitment,
intelligence, and wit and spread
it throughout British Columbia.
Our health care system would be
much the better for it. Hats off to
you Romayne!
Presented by Elisabeth Drance,
MD'84
L- R: Dr. Charles Slonecker (Hon.),
Dr. Romayne Gallagher, MD'84
and Dr. Jim Lane, MD'73. r>
ft o ?* n p
OLYMPIC MEMORIES FROM UBC
FACULTY OF MEDICINE GRADS
What words come to mind when
you think of Olympic athletes?
When describing their Olympic
experience, some UBC Faculty of
Medicine alumni used the words
"goals," "focus" and "team."
On the road to the Olympic Games,
goal-setting is part of the training,
whether it's achieving a personal best
time, mastering a difficult move, or
advancing to the final rounds of a
tournament. Lise Leveille, MD '09
noted that the "Olympics don't
define who you are—you are more
than one competition."
Along the way, there are some
unique moments that only come
with the Olympics. Dr. Leveille,
remembering entering the Opening
Ceremonies with the Canadian
Team, described it as "surreal." One
would think winning a gold medal
at the Olympics would come with
many emotions, but Hugh Fisher,
MD '88 simply remembers feeling an
overriding sense of relief.
What brings these athletes together
is being part of a team, whether it
was Pat McGeer, MD '58 and Bill
Bell, MD 54, who were members of
Canada's 1948 Olympic basketball
squad, or those in individual sports
who took pride in being part of the
larger Canadian team.
For some, "team" has expanded to
"community" as they have shared their
knowledge, skills, and passion for sport
with successive generations. Doug
Clement, MD 59 has been a coach,
mentor, and community activist for
the benefits of sport across all ages.
Hugh Fisher, MD '88 has coached and
initiated dragon boat racing programs
in his community.
For some, a commitment to athletics
has continued into specialization
in Sports Medicine, such as Doug
Clement, MD'59 andBillMackie,
MD 76. When asked if his Olympic
experience impacted him professionally,
Dr. Mackie noted that it instilled in him
a high level of discipline, a continued
interest in Sports Medicine, and a
willingness to take responsibility. Dr.
Leveille credits her athletic experience
with her sense of perseverance, the
importance of teamwork, and being
able to perform under pressure, all
of which will serve her well in her
Orthopedics Residency.
No matter which area of medicine these
Olympians have pursued, they all have
a unique knowledge and skill set that,
thankfully, they are willing to share.
UBC is fortunate to have so many
outstanding alumni within the Faculty
of Medicine with so many varied
accomplishments, and with this article
wanted to recognize and applaud these
Olympic alumni. You are extraordinary!
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP:
1948 Olympic basketball
team including Dr. Pat
McGeer, MD'58 and Dr.
Bill Bell, MD'54; Dr. Lise
Leveille, MD '09; Dr. Bill
Mackie, MD'76; Dr. Doug
Clement, MD'59.
UBC FACULTY OF MEDICINE ALUMNI & OLYMPIC ATHLETES*
e/7/ee//,MD'54-Basketball
Pat McGeer, MD'58-Basketball
Doug Clement, MD '59 -Track & Field
Glen Smith, MD '59 - Rowing
BillMackie, MD'76-Gymnastics
Hugh Fisher, MD '88 - Canoe / Kayak
SimonHoogewerf, MD'96-Track_ Field
Pat Turner, MD '97 - Rowing
Kevin Draxinger, MD '98 - Swimming
Turlough O'Hare, MD'03-Swimming
Lise Leveille, MD '09 - Gymnastics
' These were the Faculty of Medicine
alumni that we were able to research
online. If you or a fellow alumnus/a you
know was an Olympic athlete, please
let us know by emailing Anne Campbell
at anne.campbell@ubc.ca. L- R: Dr. Linda Warren, MD'68; Dr. Bob Meek, MD'68; Dr. Heidi Oetter, MD'85;
Dr. Richard Muir, MD'69; Dr. John Pawlovich, MD'94.
ALUMNI AWARDS,
ACHIEVEMENTS, ACTIVITIES
Heidi Oetter, MD '85 was
appointed Registrar of the College
of Physicians and Surgeons of BC, 1
Nov. 2008, and is the first woman to
hold this position.
Roy Innes, MD '64 retired and
residing on Gabriola Island,
has authored 2 mystery novels,
"Murder in the Monashees" and
"West End Murders."
Doug Clement, MD '59 is Chair of
the Board of the Heart and Stroke
Foundation, BC and Yukon Division.
Dr. Don Rix (Hon.) received the
2008 Outstanding Philanthropist,
Association of Fundraising
Professionals Award.
On Feb, 8, 2009, Colin Bullock,
MD '05, a family physician in Prince
George, earned the men's overall title
at the Prince George Citizen Iceman
competition. To do so he skied 8
km, ran 10 km, skied 5 km and then
swam 800 m, finishing 32 minutes
ahead of the nearest competitor.
Matthew Dickson, MD '02,
currently an ENT Fellow at
Cincinnati Children's Hospital, and
his wife have designed a website
to help moving medical students,
residents and fellows. This was born
out of their experience moving from
BC to Ohio; they hope it will make
moves easier for colleagues. To view
go to www.MovingDocs.com.
Robert Meek, MD '68 was a
2009 recipient of the Faculty
of Medicine Career Award for
Excellence in Clinical Teaching.
This award is presented to longtime clinical faculty members
who have maintained a reputation
for excellence in clinical teaching
throughout their careers.
Andrea Chapman, MD '97 was
a 2009 recipient of the Faculty of
Medicine Clinical Faculty Award
for Excellence in Teaching. This
award recognizes the essential role
clinical faculty plays in enabling
students and residents to develop
clinical skills and to integrate
and translate prior classroom and
textbook learning into effective
health care.
At the BCMA 2009 Annual
Awards Ceremony, Morris
Vanandel, MD '68 received
the Dr. David M. Bachop Gold
Medal for Distinguished Medical
Service and Larry Collins,
MD '68 was a recipient of the
BCMA Silver Medal of Service,
the Association's highest honour.
CMA Honourary Membership
was conferred on Graham Clay,
MD '56, Daniel Froese, MD '57,
Felix Durity, MD '63 and
Steven Treadwell, MD '66.
Ian Gillespie, MD '71 was
installed as BCMA President
Elect. Bill Mackie, MD '76 is
the Immediate Past President.
Dr. Lorna Sent (Hon.) ran her
first Half Marathon as a participant
in the Scotiabank Group Charity
Challenge at the Scotiabank
Vancouver Half Marathon. Her
time goal was to do the run in less
that 3 hours, which she did and
her fundraising goal was $12,000,
which she exceeded by $3,000! This
was for 2 YWCA programs, Welcome
to My Life and Boys 4 Real.
William Carpentier, MD'61
now a Texas resident who summers
on Pender Island, has good reason
to recall the 40th anniversary of
the Apollo 11 flight in which Neil
Armstrong took his famous walk. He
examined the astronauts for that July
'69 flight and spent the three-week
post-flight quarantine with them.
John Pawlovich, MD '94 was
named BC's Family Physician of
the Year by the College of Family
Physicians of Canada, He and his
wife, Dr. Sarah Pawlovich, practice
in Fraser Lake, BC.
Richard Muir, MD '69 and
Charles Scudamore, MD '75
were recipients of the College of
Physicians and Surgeons of BC
Award of Excellence.
Linda Warren, MD'68 is a
2009 recipient of the Order of
British Columbia.
KEEP IN TOUCH
Please take a moment to let us know where you are and what you're doing.
Name:
Graduation Year:
Specialty:
Address:
Write your news here:
Telephone: (h) (w) (c)
Email:
PLEASE RETURN TO:
UBC Medical Alumni Association | William A. Webber Medical Student & Alumni C
entre | 2750 Heather Street, Vancouver
BC V5Z4M2
Fax: 604 875 5528 L- R: Dr. Rob Cheyne, MD 77, Dr. Dan MacCarthy, Ms. Schulhof, and Dr. Brad Fritz, MD 75 enjoy
a break at the Meyers Norris Penny tent; Dr. Charles Slonecker (Hon.), Dr. Jim Lane, MD 73
(President, Medical Alumni Association), Dr. Gavin Stuart (Dean, UBC Faculty of Medicine).
EDICAL ALU
ASSOCIATION GOLF TOURNAMENT
The weather was perfect for
our 23rd annual MAA Golf
Tournament held on
June 18, 2009 at Fraserview
Golf Course. We spent the
afternoon connecting with friends,
colleagues, former classmates, and
teachers. Between laughing and
conversations, we even managed
to find time to get in some great
shots on the course. And, to top
it off, we raised almost $7,000 to
support student programs!
After the round of golf, we
enjoyed a lovely dinner together
in the clubhouse before the prizes
were awarded. Of special note, the
inaugural Dr. Charles Slonecker
prize for Team Winner of Best Ball
Format was awarded
to David Jones, Ryan Paley, Aim
McKenzie and Jason Mould.
Special thanks to Dr. Ron
Warneboldt, MD'75 and
Dr. David Jones, MDVO
for organizing this year's
tournament. All proceeds from
the golf tournament go toward
the Medical Alumni Association's
support for student programs.
Next year's tournament will be
held on Thursday, June 24, 2010.
For sponsorship and registration
information, please contact
Anne Campbell at 604 875 4111 ext.
62031 or anne.campbell@ubc.ca.
THE 2009 UBC
ALUMNI
ACHIEVEMENT
AWARDS
NOVEMBER 10
What makes a UBC Alumni Achievement
Award recipient great? Dedication to community service? Respect from one's peers?
Boldness? Outstanding leadership abilities? A
trailblazing spirit?
An award recipient embodies all of these
qualities and more. Hear the full stories of
this year's high achievers at the 15th Annual
UBC Alumni Achievement Awards. Then, after
being inspired by our 2009 recipients at the
awards ceremony, see and be seen at the Elements of Achievement Afterparty.
Break out your business glam ensembles and
don't miss out on this modern and marquee event.
15th Annual UBC Alumni Achievement Awards
Tuesday, November 10, 2009, 5:30 - 10:00 pm
Life Sciences Centre, 2350 Health Sciences Mall
University of British Columbia
TICKETS
SINGLE: $110 before October 15, $120 thereafter.
group OF 10: $900 before October 15,
$1000 thereafter.
To order tickets/RSVP, go to:
www.alumni.ubc.ca/events/awards Photos submitted by Dr. Rhonda Vanderfluit. photos by sean vanderfluit
ISAC REPORT: CHILDREN OF ALUMNI ENJOY MSAC
"Weepers" could take on a
whole other meaning as alumni
and students bring their
children to MSAC.
Alumni are renting the MSAC
facility for their children's birthday
parties, and organizing reunion
family days at MSAC. The MSAC
courtyard has seen magicians,
chalk drawing, and a bouncy
castle. DJs play fun music to a
room full of 13 year olds while
parents listen to each other in
the second hall. Alumni choose
MSAC for parties and events that
are too large for their own homes
and find the facility well-designed
for up to 100 guests.
The Medical Alumni Association
has a yearly Membership
Subscription drive in January.
The membership fee of $65 gives
alumni an MSAC access card
good for the year, and a substantial
discount on rental costs at MSAC.
Class reunions, whether or not for
a milestone year, receive the venue
at no charge.
The MSAC facility once rented
space to the public to meet
initial operating costs, but it is
now available only to the UBC
Medicine community, with
students and alumni at the top of
the list.
The building is kept in good
condition, but not so tidy that you
would feel uncomfortable bringing
in the kids!
Each year as we greet the entering
medical students' class, we give
them an MSAC slogan, which
is equally applicable to alumni:
"MSAC is a wonderful facility,
built for you. The more you use it,
the happier we are!"
US REPORT
Dear Members of the
UBC Medical Alumni Association,
As hundreds of medical students
across the province return for
another year of school at UBC,
the Medical Undergraduate
Society (MUS) continues to strive
forward to meet the unique needs
and demands of its members.
While medical education
often focuses on intellectual
development, education is also
about personal and professional
development with the majority
of that development taking place
outside of the classroom. As such,
the MUS is working to ensure that
students are supported both inside
and outside the classroom.
Inside the classroom, the MUS
is collaborating with the faculty
to develop a program to record
lectures on video podcasts. This
program would allow students to
revisit challenging and complex
lectures online as often as necessary
translating to a more thorough
understanding of the material.
Furthermore, the MUS serves as
an active contributor to the Dean's
Task Force on Curriculum Renewal
in hopes of further advancing
medical education at UBC. The
vast breadth of knowledge that
students are responsible for is
not the only concern however.
With students in distributed sites
across the province in Victoria,
Prince George, and soon in the
Okanagan, equitable representation
can present a challenge. However,
with the support of a creative and
capable MUS council, as well
as generously donated advanced
videoconferencing equipment at the
MSAC, barriers such as these are
being broken down piece by piece.
Outside the classroom, the MUS
is working to ensure that medical
students are afforded a life beyond
the library. With Medicine Beyond
Medicine seminars, global health
awareness campaigns and almost
forty clubs and associations under
the MUS, UBC medical students
are engaged in everything from
acting and activism to opera and
outreach. The creativity and drive
demonstrated by students has
also led to new and innovative
projects. One such project that
will inevitably leave a lasting legacy
comes in the form of the UBC
Medical Journal (UBCMJ). In the
spirit of like-minded initiatives
at the University of Toronto
and McGill, a team of over a
hundred medical students have
been working hard to spearhead
a truly student-directed journal
targeting fellow students, residents,
and members of the faculty. As
such, students are afforded the
opportunity to participate directly
within the publication process of a
professional journal, an experience
that will serve to foster future
involvement within academic
research. Ultimately the ability of
students to pursue their passions
outside of medicine is critical
to their health and well-being
and as such should be supported
and encouraged by their student
society.
Whether it is inside or outside the
classroom, the MUS is looking
forward to the academic year ahead
with great optimism. On behalf
of all of us at the MUS, I would
like to thank the Medical Alumni
Association for taking the time to
read about our hopes and plans for
the new year.
Wishing you all the best,
Mattias Berg
President
UBC Medical Undergraduate Society CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CLASS OF 20091
Please join us in welcoming our newest graduates as they pursue their residency programs.
On behalf of the UBC Medical Alumni Association, we are proud to welcome you as alumni and colleagues.
Anatomical Pathology
and General Pathology
Ananta Gurung, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Patrick Wong, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Anesthesiology
Alex Blais,VYMV,
University of British
Columbia
Hung Leong (Edmond)
Chau, VFMP, University
of Toronto
EricChou, VFMP,
University of Alberta
Jessica Collings, IMP,
Queen's University
Matthew Gulp, IMP,
Memorial University
David Flamer, VFMP,
University of Toronto
Pooya Kazemi, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Jim Klonarakis,
NMP, University of
Saskatchewan
Tomas Kuca, VFMP,
Dalhousie University
Logan Lee, NMP,
University of Alberta
Tsui Pik Doris Leung,
VFMP, University of
Ottawa
Sean McLean, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Cristin McRae, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Brad Merriman, NMP,
University of British
Columbia
Meghan O'Connell,
VFMP, University of
Calgary
Travis Schisler, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Sara Waters, IMP,
University of British
Columbia
Karen Wong,VYMV,
Queen's University
Siu-KaeYeong,VYMV,
University of British
Columbia
Lauren Zolpys, VFMP,
Dalhousie University
Dermatology
Kathryn Beleznay,
VFMP, University of
British Columbia
Gurbir Dhadwal, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Diagnostic Radiology
Lan Cheyne, VFMP,
Dalhousie University
Arash Eftekhari, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Winnie Fu,VYMV,
University of Calgary
Geoffrey Karjala,
IMP, University of
Saskatchewan
Emily Pang, VFMP,
University of Toronto
Brendan Quiney, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Silvia Riccio, VFMP,
University of Calgary
Elizabeth Roy, VYMV,
University of Calgary
Paul Sanders, NMP,
Queen's University
Jonathan Scheske, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Nicolette Sinclair,
VFMP, University of
Saskatchewan
Christopher Stevens,
VFMP, University of
British Columbia
Evgeny Strovski, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Jennifer Waterhouse,
VFMP, University of
British Columbia
Emergency Medicine
Matthew Bouchard,
VFMP, University of
British Columbia
Robert Cheyne, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Wailliam Lee,V¥MV,
University of British
Columbia
Jennifer Nicol, IMP,
University of Calgary
Family Medicine
Isaiah Bregman, VFMP,
Columbia, Connecticut-
ERAS
Rachel DeLong,VYMV,
University of Ottawa
Annie Docking, NMP,
University of Ottawa
Lindsay Mclean, IMP,
Queen's University
Taylor Riutta, NMP,
Queen's University
Gurpreet Sahota, VFMP,
Queen's University
Lorraine MacDonald,
NMP, Queen's
University
Brigitte Reynolds, VFMP,
University of Manitoba
Meredith Barakat, IMP,
McMaster University
Rachel DeFina,VYMV,
University of Calgary
Maya Grover, VFMP,
University of Calgary
Amyeen Hassanali,
VFMP, University of
Calgary
Sandra Henderson,
VFMP, University of
Calgary
Cindy Kam,V¥MV,
University of Calgary
Ingrid McFee, VFMP,
University of Calgary
Jeffrey Ricketson, IMP,
University of Calgary
Lara Dickinson, IMP,
University of British
Columbia
Simone Lefebvre, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Claudia Cheung,Y¥M_V,
University of Alberta
Wei Shao,V¥MV,
University of Alberta
Toma Timothy, IMP,
University of Alberta
Lindsay Taylor, VFMP,
Dalhousie University
Andrew Shum, VFMP,
University of Toronto
Andrea Weiss, VFMP,
University of Toronto
Junella Lee,VYMV,
University of British
Columbia
Erin Morley, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Samantha Reineking,
VFMP, University of
British Columbia
AmyWang,VYMV,
University of British
Columbia
David Zayonc, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Ian Bekker, VFMP,
Dalhousie University
Dana Lymburner,
VFMP, Dalhousie
University
David Esau, VFMP,
McGill University
Anna Isbister, IMP,
McGill University
Jeremy Saunier, VFMP,
McGill University
Emily Sung, VFMP,
McGill University
Venetia Mah, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Sandy Martin, IMP,
University of British
Columbia
Jessica Otte, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Dubravka Uchman,
NMP, University of
British Columbia
Karen Fang, VFMP,
McMaster University
Trisha Goodman,VFM.J),
University of British
Columbia
Cortney Shier, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Jasmine Leslie, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Jessica Chiles, NMP,
University of British
Columbia
Julia Hlynsky, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Adam Watchorn, NMP,
University of British
Columbia
Tiffany Chan,VYMV,
Dalhousie University
Sarah Tennant, NMP,
Dalhousie University
Stephanie Bennett,
VFMP, University of
British Columbia
Courtney Collins, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Lindsay Hewitson,
VFMP, University of
British Columbia
Amy Johnson, NMP,
University of British
Columbia
Kyle Merritt, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Payman Dehghani,
VFMP, University of
Toronto
Stuart Marshall, IMP,
University of Calgary
Shannon Marshall, IMP,
University of Calgary
Stephanie Peters, VFMP,
Memorial University
Diana Silva, NMP,
University of Calgary
Jennifer Begin,
NMP, University of
Saskatchewan
Jana Patenaude,
NMP, University of
Saskatchewan
Danielle dejong, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Timothy Findlay, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Lisa Lange, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Evelyn Wu,V¥MV,
University of British
Columbia
Dan Pare,VYMV,
University of British
Columbia
JeffSchulz,V¥MV,
University of British
Columbia
Steven Yau, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
General Surgery
LisaAird,VYMV,
University of British
Columbia
Wiley Chung,V¥MV,
University of Toronto
Heather Emmerton-
Coughlin,VYMV,
University of Western
Ontario
Daniel French, VFMP,
Dalhousie University
Nimrod Levy, VFMP,
University of Alberta
Benjamin Matthew,
NMP, University of
British Columbia PHOTO BY UBC ALUMNI AFFAIRS
Peter Nicholson, VFMP,
Dalhousie University
Alisha Mills,VFMV,
Northern Ontario
School of Medicine
Hemato logical
Pathology
Ayesha Vawda, IMP,
University of British
Columbia
Internal Medicine
ReyAcedillo,VYMV,
University of Western
Ontario
Amir ali Ahmadi, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Shane Arishenkoff,
VFMP, University of
British Columbia
Lise Bondy, VFMP,
University of Toronto
Annie C/wz/,VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Ann Marie Colwill, IMP,
University of Alberta
Natasha Dehghan
manshadi, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Giulio Dominelli, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Amanda Jagdis, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Rachel Jen,VYMV,
University of British
Columbia
Sharnjeet Kahlon, VFMP,
University of Alberta
Amit Khosla,VYMV,
University of Calgary
Mitchell Lee, VYMV,
University of British
Columbia
Hiu-wah (Hugh) Li,
VFMP, University of
Western Ontario
Peter Ling, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Alan Martyn, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Faraz Moeinvaziri,
VFMP, McGill
University
Phuong-thao Nguyen,
VFMP, University of
Calgary
Farhad Peerani, VFMP,
University of Alberta
Tasleem Anar Rajan,
VFMP, University of
British Columbia
JiajiaRen, VFMP,
Queen's University
Erin Sloan, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Leah Standeven, VFMP,
University of Alberta
Ashim Verma, VFMP,
University of Calgary
Nadia Widmer, NMP,
University of British
Columbia
Keltie Anderson,
IMP, University of
Saskatchewan
Jodie Jeffery,VYMV,
University of
Saskatchewan
Praveena Sivapalan,
VFMP, University of
Saskatchewan
Internal Medicine and
Dermatology
Angela Law, VFMP,
University of
Saskatchewan and
Dalhousie University
Medical Genetics
Karen Niederhoffer,
VFMP, University of
British Columbia
Medical Microbiology
Natashia Penner, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Amanda Wilmer, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Neurology
Nailyn Rasool,VYMV,
Dalhousie University
Neuropatholo gy
Joyce Leo, VYMV,
University of British
Columbia
Neurosurgery
Zurab Ivanishvili,
IMP, University of
Saskatchewan
Michael Tso,VYMV,
University of Calgary
Albert Tu,VYMV,
University of British
Columbia
Obstetrics and
Gynecology
Claire Barber, VFMP,
Memorial University
Pamela Calderon, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Sarah Coad,VYMV,
University of British
Columbia
Sarah Hodgson, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Johnathon Stamp, NMP,
University of British
Columbia
Flora Teng, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Chad Van Tongeren,
VFMP, University of
British Columbia
Kimberly Suvajdzic,
VFMP, University of
Saskatchewan
Ophthalmolo gy
Andrea Butler, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Ashley Ko,VFMV,
University of British
Columbia
Heather ODonnell,
VFMP, University of
British Columbia
Christopher Waite,
VFMP, University of
Alberta
Daniel Warder, IMP,
Queen's University
Orthopedic Surgery
Adam Cota, IMP,
McGill University
Lise Leveille, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Deirdre Nunan,
NMP, University of
Saskatchewan
Lukasz Soswa, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
KyleWinter,V¥MV,
University of British
Columbia
Otolaryngology
Trevor Hartl, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Andrew Thamboo,
VFMP, of British
Columbia
Bella Wu, NMP,
University of Western
Ontario
Pediatrics
Jagmeet Bhogal,
VFMP, University of
Saskatchewan
Nicole Fernandes, VFMP,
McMaster University
Esther Lee,VYMV,
University of Manitoba
Lily Lin, NMP,
University of
Saskatchewan
Francine Ling, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Colleen Nugent, IMP
Memorial University
Krystal OByrne, VFMP
University of British
Columbia
Elmine Statham, VFMP
University of British
Columbia
Physical Medicine and
Rehabilitation
Derry Dance, VFMP,
University of Toronto
Grace Li,VFMV,
University of British
Columbia
Plastic Surgery
Nasim Abedi-
moghaddam, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Tournesol Gregory,
VFMP, University of
British Columbia
Jordan Haythornthwaite,
VFMP, University of
British Columbia
Justin Yeung, VFMP,
University of Calgary
Psychiatry
Cristina Aydin, VFMP,
Dalhousie University
Rhea Balderston, VFMP,
University of Calgary
Wi Hough Jenkins, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Sheila Kegel, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Buldip Khosa, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Ryan Klein,VYMV,
University of Toronto
Emma Martin, VFMP,
University of Alberta
Carina Perel-Panar,
VFMP, University of
British Columbia
Jeremy Prenger, IMP,
University of British
Columbia
Navraaj Sandhu, VFMP,
University of Toronto
Nathan Unger,VFM'P,
University of British
Columbia
Christian Wiens, IMP,
Dalhousie University
Julia WongVFMV,
University of British
Columbia
Kevin Wong,VYMV,
University of British
Columbia
Gloria Yuen,VYMV,
University of Toronto
Radiation Oncology
Alexander Banashkevich,
VFMP, Queen's
University
Julianna Caon, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Allison Chew, VFMP,
University of British
Columbia
Clement Ho, VYMV,
University of Alberta
Jasbir Jaswal, VFMP,
University of Western
Ontario
Sarah Lucas, NMP,
University of British
Columbia
Theodora Olivotto, IMP,
University of Calgary
Ravinder Pandher,
VFMP, University of
Calgary
Urology
Alym Abdulla, NMP,
McMaster University
Nathan Hoag, IMP,
University of British
Columbia
Justin Lee, VFMP,
University of Toronto
Michael Robinson, NMP,
University of British
Columbia
Christopher Zappavigna,
VFMP, University of
Ottawa
On sabbatical
Bojana Jankovic, VFMP THE NEX
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